"Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself-begin to have spiritual discernment."
-Oswald Chambers- Utmost for his highest June 8
In light of a recent trip to the Chesapeake Bay and experiencing first hand the raging seas of a storm, as well as the calm waters of a harbor upon being delivered from the storm, this passage hit very close to home. In quiet contemplation I recall how hard I fought to keep the boat headed into the wind when the wind and waves, in combination with one another, tossed the boat up and down with ease. It is with that same tenacity that I fight to keep myself pointed in the direction of my lord and savior Jesus Christ.
No raging sea, nor blinding rain will keep me from thee oh Lord, blow hurricane gusts that toss me about and I will sing for you a love song
Come take me away to your heavenly realm so I can worship at your feet, but here i remain to do your will by the mercy of your storm
Leaving Haven Harbor, August 19th
The red line marks our path of travel
On August 19th Dan Baker-charterer and 1st mate, Asher Bray-Helmsman and maintrimmer, Aaron Bray-maintrimmer and tactition and Aaron Good - Captain, set sail on Selah, a 36' Pearson sailboat that became home for 3 days while navigating the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. We arrived at the quiet haven harbor in Rock Hall MD, on the evening of the 18th. We familiarized ourselves with the boat and settled in for our first night on the boat.
The winds proved to be slow the first half of friday the 19th. We left Haven Harbor around 11 or so in the morning heading south to our evening destination of Saint Michaels. The winds were slow on the northern part of Kent island giving an opportunity to take a dip in the bay.
Shortly after passing through the Kent Narrows we gained some wind speed. The narrows is a small boat highway that connects the North eastern shore of the Chesapeak Bay with Prospect Bay. The winds picked up to about 12 knots and we sailed most of the way to St. Michaels.
Saint Micheals was established in 1677 and is home to great sea food, historic sites, musueams, and entertainment. The morning of the 20th turned out to be slow going. In fact we turned on the ships autopilot and played a few games of cards as we motored toward the southern point of Kent island where we would round the point and head west to Galesville. I took a nap while the boys motored and played cards. Pirates Cove provided us a slip for Selah and a meal for her crew on the night of the 20th. The evening faded into night as we drank wine on the deck of the boat.
The morning air on the 21st was filled with life. We trimmed the sails almost as soon as we pulled away from the dock and sailed North to Annapolis. The winds were with us blowing out of the southeast at about 14 - 20 knots. We arrived at my least favorite place, the Public Docks in Annapolis, also known as ego alley, for the incredibly large and expensive boats that park there. I dislike this dock because landing your vessel perfectly in a slip is near impossible when the winds are coming off the bay, which they were. In addition, everyone person in annapolis has a front row seat at the comedy show, us trying to dock, about to unfold. With a little help from an impromptu dock hand, a guy with some sailing knowledge walking down the street, we landed Selah safely in her slip. The crew and myself wandered to Pussers, a bayside restaurant for some lunch. An hour later we succesfully departed from the dreaded ego alley and headed for ships home, haven Harbor
Before Lunch in Annapolis
The Storm
We passed many small sailing vessels that had been flipped by the increasing wind speed, they received help from harbor patrol and other more maneuverable vessels and due to our tight schedule headed north for Haven Harbor. We sailed with the jib from Annapolis to just north of the bay bridge. The winds began to increase to unmanageable speeds so we dropped sail and motored north toward our doom. The sky was black and you could see the wind and the waves building as we pressed on toward our destination. Annapolis and the bridge behind us still looked inviting compared to the lighting filled sky in front of us. As we entered the storm the waves increased and began tossing our boat up and down. As the headwinds picked up to speeds of 40 knots I fought hard to keep Selah into the wind and head-on to each new wave. Water splashed across the deck of the boat and we all put on life vests and hunkered down. Blasts of wind would come out of the east and south reaching speeds of 50 knots again trying to throw us off coarse. we battled for nearly 45 minutes. Death crossed my mind, in fact it stayed in the forefront as a very real possibility. While I was at the helm fighting the waves I had two images in my head, the first; Arriving in port after the storm had passed and meeting those who hid from its force on the land, sharing stories about the storm with them. The second thought was simply this, we would not arrive in port. Instead I would be with my heavenly father. There was a glimmer of sunshine and the sky to the west looked clear, and then the rain came. It rained hard for about an hour and at times the sky threw hail at us. Lightening flashed all around us like flickering neon signs. We sailed by the compass, GPS, and charts. We rode out the storm for about 2 hours and 45 minutes until the storm broke up and gave us sunshine for the last 40 minutes and arrival at Haven Harbor. The storm had knocked out the power in Haven Harbor and left the majority of the parking lot flooded. Many individuals watched as our weathered crew and boat pulled into our slip. We arrived and we shared stories with those who where glad they were safely on land during the storm. I just smiled and thought to myself. "I was glad I was out there in the storm"
Author and Captain Aaron Good on his forth Chesapeake Bay Sailing Trip
1 comment:
What an unforgettable trip! Thanks for posting this, Aaron. The passage from Ozzy Chambers is spot on!
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