Hōkūleʻa’s Journey to Church Hill

As this is the inaugural post for the new Browns Corner Blab…blog?, I figured I should give some context. My name is Steve and I’ve been helping Sandy with various yard, tech and housework for the past year. One of thing projects I’ve been tasked with is helping Sandy modernize his digital output. So this is to be the new home for his ramblings with some creative input from myself.

Recently, Sandy’s son Tim asked if I would be interested in assisting them in the task of bringing his long time boat, Hōkūleʻa, to its new home at Kennersley Point Marina in Church Hill. This required an overnight trip from its previous home at “The Yard” in D.C.

We set off from D.C. around 5pm on Saturday, May 24th for first major leg of the trip down the Potomac river. It was a beautiful and calm evening as we got underway.

Planes were passing pretty close overhead as we left D.C.

The sunset as we were passing Indian Head

This took us well into the evening, and we approached the mouth of the Potomac as it really started to get dark. Tim timed this well so that we could avoid any major traffic while we were in the dark. In fact, I don’t think we saw anyone all night. At least not while I was awake.

The last bits of sunlight on the horizon as we approached the bay

Robert captured some fireworks happening on the shore

Tim was a trooper and stayed at the helm all night. Robert and I took sort of unspoken shifts keeping him company and trading off napping. If I’m remembering the timing correctly, we encountered some choppy waters for a while in the early morning, which slowed us down a bit. I happened to sleep through most of it. I know there was some concern back at home for Robert’s level of comfort on the journey, but we snapped this picture to assure that he was more than comfy curled up in a chair in the cabin

Sandy all safe and snug in his PFD and his chair

I didn’t really snap anything noteworthy during most of our time on the largest parts of the bay. Most of this time was spent by Tim and myself studying the route on our phone apps (Garmin Navionics) and trying to spot the next channel markers on the horizon. This was a bit of a wake up call for how my vision has degraded. Tim was able to spot these significantly further out than I could.

Navigating the bay

I spent every summer during my youth down here in Rock Hall racing dinghy’s and coaching sailing classes, so I know the rules of the water. However, this was a great lesson for me in applying the basics to a much bigger body of water and much longer journey. An overnight across the bay isn’t exactly a perilous journey in any case, but still a significant step up for someone who’s boating experience mostly involves optis, lasers, and small outboard powerboats. I’m confident I could do it again with little assistance, but I’m thankful that Tim was at the helm almost the entire journey.

The Crew

Our only real “stop” was a little extra safety precaution as we approached the Kent Narrows bridge. Per the posted information and some community notes in the Garmin App, we probably would have been fine to pass under the bridge. However, since the season is well underway, the drawbridge opens every half hour. We were approaching the bridge at roughly 4:20pm per the time I recorded these next video clips.

Briefly halting while waiting for the bridge to open

Approaching and passing under the drawbridge

Our journey up the Chester River was again spent with my head mostly buried in the nav app checking channel markers. I was now in a good rhythm following along with the navigation decisions, but once again I was thankful I wasn’t in charge. I might have cut a corner or two accidentally if Tim wasn’t the Skipper! As we brief came within visual distance of the Rock Hall Yacht Club, I talked Tim’s ear off about my experiences sailing on the river.

It isn’t the Chester River without osprey

Just a little over 24 hours later we approached Hōkūleʻa’s new home. We had some concerns about the depth as we approached Kennersley’s Point Marina, but the dockmaster’s words rang true (he said we should be fine) as we pulled into this small creek.

Arriving at Kennersley Point

And thus ended our trip relatively uneventfully. I was not present for Hōkūleʻa being hauled out of the water a few days later, but Robert recorded some clips. I have since seen her in the boat yard where she will be undergoing some repairs and receiving some much needed TLC.

Hōkūleʻa being hoisted out of the water

Hōkūleʻa in the boat yard