The Old Codger of Perry Creek

Perry Creek is one of our favorite spots to hold up for the night. When the kids were younger, this was an annual stop - we'd let them run loose in the row boat we towed. We were very aware of the quiet and honored it as did the other yachtsmen. It's one of the things that hooked me on cruising - the quiet.

We've had some interesting experiences here, like waking up in the middle of one night at low tide, pitched over with our noses to the rail having anchored too close to a ledge. Tom had to go ashore that night to find a log to right us until the tide came back in. Last summer we had four big "stink pots" anchored with us. They were filled with loud obnoxious couples and their equally loud obnoxious children. It was a total bummer and we might as well have been at Old Orchard Beach. Fortunately, one old codger rowed over and stopped the kids and their parents from racing around the boats in their their motorized dinghy. Hopefully he taught them something important.

I guess it's to be expected that this aspect of cruising would change, as the coastal landscape has with the McMansions and Martha Stewart Shanties. Traditions that have been passed down through generations of yachtsmen will be sidestepped by those new to the activity. It is to be expected that they will be lost one day unless, of course, we join up with the old codger and brave the incoming tide in the name of those traditions. I guess we're old enough now!

The Old Codger of Perry Creek • 8" x 8" gouache on paper framed to 12"x 12" • $200