Navigation: Where Am I?

The Chesapeake Bay has to be one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world. The funny thing is, I never know where I am on it.

I have little problem finding my way on land. I seem to have an internal compass that heads me in the right direction, even if I'm in unfamiliar territory. So, armed with a major in geography (granted, it's 30 years old) and a love of maps, you'd think I'd be able to transfer these skills to the water. Not so.

The fact is that there are few landmarks to help me orient myself. I can't tell where a cove ends and a point begins. The trees look the same from a distance. And luckily, the water's not littered with street signs and traffic lights, although I sometimes secretly wish there were something out there to give me a hint!

Okay, so there is a system of marks and buoys and bells and lights but they're few and far between. Even when I see on the chart or the GPS that there is a mark ahead, I can't find it. It's a real trick to look through the binoculars, keep the boat on course, avoid the crab pots, figure out who has right-of-way, try not to get run over by a tanker, and find that little black dot on the horizon. As I get frustrated, Harry will inevitably say, "I see it." Sigh.

He's been sailing his whole life so I choose to believe that this is a learned skill and that I will get better at it. The sun helps with the whole north/south thing, but on a sailboat, you can never "get there from here." I know that if I want to go from Oxford to St. Michaels, this is generally northwest but to go that direction would take me across a rather wide peninsula of land. But how many points do you have to go around and how many coves do you pass and how do you find that eensy-weensy opening for Knapps Narrows? Not by eye, that's for sure.