Dinghy Poker Run

A Poker Run is a social event where people visit multiple stops (restaurants, bars, campgrounds, etc.) in one day to obtain a card for their poker hand. At the end of the event, everyone gathers together and the team with the best poker hand wins a prize. Events are organized by motorcycle groups, snowmobile clubs, and even horse riders.

On the water, people use their boats to visit marinas and waterfront restaurants in a poker run. The Rock the Bay Poker Run is a popular event for cigarette boats on the Chesapeake Bay. Those of us without a cigarette boat would never be able to keep up but that doesn't mean we miss all the fun. Instead we have the Middle River Dinghy Poker Run.

The rules appear to be simple:

1. Dress up like a pirate. (Optional, but apparently highly suggested.)
2. Fill your dinghy to capacity with friends (and lifejackets - safety first).
3. Bring anything you can find to get others wet -- water guns, buckets, an old laundry detergent container with the bottom cut out (my personal favorite because of the helpful handle).
4. Converge on Red Eye Yacht Club.
5. Set off with everyone for the first stop on the Run.
6. Get as wet as humanly possible between Red Eye and the first stop.
7. Get willing participants on spectator boats as wet as possible.
8. Return at the end of the day exhausted.

We did not officially participate in the Poker Run but we were anchored in Sue Creek which is a major thoroughfare for the event. Many of our crew partook of the opportunity to splash and be splashed.

The first dinghy makes an approach for our raft up.

Streams of water from fireboats can be seen in the background.

Prepare to get soaked.

Watch out for SUPs that trap your dinghy in a wet zone.

And at the end of the day, if you don't want to ride your dinghy all the way back to your home marina, perhaps you can find a friendly boater to transport a few.

What fun events happen in your boating world?

Christmas Boat Parade

Just like a home, boats are often decorated both inside and out for the holidays. One of the best ways to show off the decorations is by participating in a Lighted Boat Parade. We were lucky enough to be invited onto a friend's boat for the Middle River Parade of Lighted Boats.

Before you let loose the lines, you need to decorate the blank canvas:

Boat railings are a natural location for lights attached with zip ties.

Cords can be hidden in the canvas.

Attach snowflakes to the arch.

Employ a boat hook and bungee cords to hold up a string of lights on the bow.

Include a mascot.

Plug it all in and invite friends for the ride.

Many boats arrived at the starting marina while there was still a bit of light:

Baltimore Pride

High-tech tree stand.

It's a new species -- Umbrella Jellyfish!

 

Some boats must make the boat parade circuit. I saw this boat in the Baltimore parade last year:

They even had a train whistle.
Apologies for the blurry nature of the picture -- trying to take a picture in the dark of a boat covered in lights traveling in the opposite direction of the boat you are on is not ideal for crisp photographs.

More boats:

Starting to line up.

Hopefully we can get our act together and participate in a parade next year. Any suggestions on how you would like to see our boat decorated?

Labor Day Weekend - Part 1

We managed to fit two destinations into our Labor Day travels. The first stop was a friend's shore house off Seneca Creek in Middle River. We planned to take a slow cruise over but the wind and waves were making the trip tough on the cats. I spent most of the trip cleaning up after them and really wish I could teach them to watch the horizon so they would feel better. At least this guy was having fun:

After passing behind Hart-Miller Island we set our course towards an easy landmark. I like to call it the candy striper power plant.

The dock at our friend's house is just the right size for us and it's good that we draw only 3 1/2 feet of water since the creek is pretty shallow.

It's the house on the right.

The views are a bit different from our normal urban landscape.

We joke that the amenities at this "marina" are lacking -- no pool -- but the "restaurant" is great. The crabs from Salty Dog's were meaty and delicious. I hear that you should call early because they are a popular crab house and sell out of the larger crabs.

After a quiet evening we set off for Tolchester Marina in the morning. More on that in the next post...

Just Desserts Weekend

Desserts, desserts, desserts, and then more desserts. Saturday and Sunday we rafted up with friends for a Just Desserts weekend. The plan was to have everyone bring tasty, sugary, calorie-filled treats to share across the boats -- I just kept telling myself that calories don't count on the boat. One of our friends is a pastry chef so many of us purchased pre-made desserts because we could never compete with his tasty creations. There were cookies and cakes and tarts and frozen yummies and jello shots (yes, they do to count as a dessert!). We even had some healthy fruit in a watermelon fish: We rafted up directly across from the restaurant at Parkside Marina. It's a quick hour run from Baltimore.
This area of the Chesapeake Bay is pretty clean, however, the Bay does have a natural brownish color to it. Admittedly light colored bathing suits don't stay the same color for long and the silty bottom here doesn't help matters. However, this a very protected area and you can pull up close to shore. It's a good spot for swimming. If you have dogs they can swim to shore to "do their business." Basically, if you're anchored here, the only "dangers" are "alligator log" and random water balloon attacks (fyi - the bar faucet on the Regal 3760 is the perfect size for water balloons):







We had planned to watch the Middle River Dinghy Poker Run but they must have stayed in other parts of Middle River. While I was disappointed to not see the Poker Run, I can't complain about a two propane tank weekend and fun times with friends on eight other boats.