Crisfield, MD

We left Calvert Marina at 8:15 on Saturday, September 13 heading for Crisfield, MD for the MTOA Rendezvous. It was a magnificent day with perfect temperatures in the 70’s and calm seas. We saw very few boats along the way and arrived at Somers Cove Marina by 1:45.

After fueling and doing a pump-out we tied up at the dock in a prime location. The next several days were consumed by the Rendezvous which was a success but not without its challenges and a very unfortunate tragedy.

The afternoon we arrived, we cleaned Zendo inside and out knowing that we would have guests aboard.  We had dinner at a local low-key restaurant with some friends and enjoyed our first soft shell crabs of the season. 

The next day was spent helping with setting up for registration and welcoming some of the early arrivals.  The Rendezvous officially began on Monday morning with a board meeting that Jonny chaired, as president.  The opening session began after that and continued for the next three days.  The weather on Monday was very nice but things changed after that.

On Tuesday night, after a day of workshops and a group dinner, one of our members left the festivities to walk back to her boat. When her husband joined her a bit later she was nowhere to be found.  The police were called and an extensive manhunt for her began that included scores of MTOA members, the police, the sheriff’s office, divers, drones and the local mayor.  All to no avail.  After several hours the search was halted and we were left wondering if Theresa had accidentally stepped off the docks and fallen in the water. 

The next day the search resumed though with not as much ferocity except by two of our members.  The weather had deteriorated and it was a very rainy and windy day but these two women refused to accept that Theresa was gone.  They took it upon themselves to search and search until they found her lying by some rocks near the shore but quite a ways from the marina. She was in a fairly remote spot that the previous searches had only superficially explored.  Apparently she had fallen and hit her head and given all the time that had passed, she obviously did not survive. The situation was dreadfully sad. The officials were promptly notified and since it was an unexplained death, her husband was not allowed to accompany her in the ambulance to the morgue and a full investigation had to be done. 

Of course, the MTOA membership was stunned and saddened by this loss and we held a brief ceremony which Jonny facilitated with the help of one of our members, a lay minister who led us in prayer and we lit 140 votive candles in her memory.  The committee in charge of the Rendezvous did a very good job of pivoting and adjusting the schedule to give proper deference to this loss and and still honor their commitments to the members to provide them with a good Rendezvous experience.  Events were delayed some but they did occur and eventually after a couple of days the weather also started to improve. By the last day, the sun shone again.

Some of the fun events were a crab race and a crab dinner including a local woman named Hurricane Hazel, the fastest crab picker in the county!

That evening we witnessed the gathering of a dramatic cloud bank that I had to include here.

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This will be a Rendezvous that shall not be forgotten.  The day after it ended there was a boat trip to Smith Island but we didn’t go because we had to get back to Philly for a doctor’s appointment and the arrival of our first grandchild. 

At the banquet on the last night of the Rendezvous we said our goodbyes to old and new friends and started to plan for the trip home. Our good friends from Miami, Addie and Lange, were due to arrive the next morning to join us for the trip back to Delaware City.

It was an eventful week in good ways and bad. I was incredibly proud of Jonny and his ability to help guide a group of 140 people through a very difficult time and still maintain the spirit of cooperation and good will that are hallmarks of the Marine Trawler Owner’s Association.