Chesapeake Bay Week; On The Trail Of Captain John Smith: Rediscovering Chesapeake Bay

The following program is made by NPT to serve all of our diverse communities and is made possible by the generous support of our members. Thank you. On the trail of Captain John Smith is made possible in part by generous support from the friends of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake trail which promotes conservation and stewardship of the Joan Smith trail and Chesapeake Bay. There is but one entrance spicey into this country that is at the mouth of a very goodly Bay Area mountains hills plains valleys rivers and brooks all running most pleasantly into a fair Bay compassed with fruitful delight some land. Captain John Smith 16 12 on May 12 2007 12 modern day adventure and shoved off from historic

Jamestown amidst cheers and good luck and Godspeed. Their voyage is part of a 400 anniversary celebration of the founding of Jamestown England's first successful settlement in the new world ahead lay a four month expedition exposed to wind rain and weather in an open wooden boat. So who are we who are the 12 crazy people signed up to slowly chase history where Mesha seven men and five women each with a love for the outdoors. The crew follows on the trail of Captain John Smith as they explore fifteen hundred miles of Chesapeake Bay and its mightiest rivers in one hundred twenty one days. It is the adventure of a lifetime. A story of discovery still unfolding. Four hundred years ago a voyage began that change the world

in 16 0 8. Captain John Smith with a company of compatriots some gentlemen included rode from the newly settled English colony of Jamestown which he had co-founded the year before. Their mission explore the uncharted waters of a vast Bay in an unknown world. Fourteen men in a little wooden work boat into expeditions that Summer Smith sailed and rode twenty five hundred miles in search of gold and silver and the Northwest Passage to the fabled riches of the Orient. Four centuries later modern day adventures are inaugurating a new national historic water trail that retraces John Smith's combined voyages and beckons adventurers of the future through their own discoveries of Chesapeake Bay. Like Captain John Smith these modern explorers will launch a new era of

discovery but of a very different sort. The modern adventurers 28 foot vessel called a shallop is a hand crafted replica of Captain Smith's boat which he called a discovery barge. The crew's audacious goal is to row and sail the entire voyage under their own power. As John Smith did Noto bowls no more sounds of cheering have faded as they head eastward down the James River towards open bay facing the unknown alone. The crew will contend with all that summer on the Chesapeake can bring dangerous storms suffocating heat shifting shallows vexing tides and all manner of weather exposed in an

open wooden boat. In this they are compatriots across time with the voyagers of so long ago the first to make this trip in a shallow in 400 years. Heaven could be waiting for us in the bay this summer or it could be Hell we don't know. There are differences too between Smith's discoveries as we call them and these modern adventurers on his Chesapeake water trail the Jamestown settlement and Smith's explorations of Chesapeake Bay and rivers were chartered to the Virginia Company of London by England's King James the first who had succeeded Queen Elizabeth the First. This shallots journey is the brainchild of nonprofit educational Sultana projects in Chestertown on the Chester river and the friends of the

Captain John Smith Chesapeake national historic trail led by Patrick Noonan chairman emeritus of the Conservation Fund. Their passion for Chesapeake Bay matches the passion for empire building centuries ago. This great body of water and the rivers and tributaries that feed it are not well known what the shallop and its journey in the trail enable us to do is appreciate the entire Chesapeake throughout the six state region. Sixty four thousand square miles of national treasure. Our theory is that by getting people out of the water having them have these unique experiences they'll ultimately learn to enjoy the environment more care more about it and ultimately become a steward of the Chesapeake Bay. And so the crew Rose hard down the James knowing their journey re-enacts a world shaking historic expedition bears witness to the State of the day to millions inaugurate a sparkling new national water trail and helps chart a course for protecting the largest

estuary in North America for the next 400 years. It's a tall order for a little book. No wonder they roll at such a clip. There is history to be celebrated in history to be made passing along the coast searching every in Luton to bay fitful harbors and habitations. Captain John Smith throughout his Chesapeake voyages Captain Smith and other crew members kept a journal of their expeditions. Smith also took notes and information he gathered from Native people to construct a remarkably accurate map of Chesapeake Bay. First published with his journals in 16 12. It's almost impossible for us to imagine what it must have been like to take wilderness experience that he went through exploring the bay and to turn it into a map that's as accurate as his map is. We use all

sorts of tools like computers and global positioning systems and satellite imagery. And he had none of that. So the shallot makes its first crossing of the bay following Smith's route from the mouth of the James River to the Eastern Shore Andy by strong brother of the captain. Is this expeditions journalist. This is what we're taking with us in the 28 foot open rowboat Bay charts radio compass binoculars A Guide to Birds guide to fishes a book on Indians guide to John Smith voyages to propane tanks sunblock an SPF 30 50 a 30 30 30 glowsticks three insect repellents and he writes Where and when he can. Eventually his notes end up on a laptop computer carried in a waterproof case when in signal range and he emails his entries to Sol 10 a projects where they're posted online at the project website. A treasure trove of

information crossing the bay in a shallop is no small task in 23 miles of open water. Anything can happen. We're very much at the mercy of the wind waves and currents as John Smith was timing his entire voyages to the weather. For its first day crossing the shallop enjoys a stiff wind from the south. The crew is able to sail and so they relax while they can. After the rigors of rowing the James River. We spend entire days on the boat. Rebecca Scouse ski has crewed on historic vessels before. You know it's like a car trip. And if we're rowing everyone cycling through and getting a break for

sailing we don't need 12 people to sail this boat. Most of the time most of the people are just trying to find something to do like a road trip. The men and women share duties equally at most landings. The crew is asked about how the sexes get along in that tiny boat. We do our little bickering sometimes when it gets really hot outside. But overall we get along really well. Before joining this crew Leona Dalton was assistant coach for the Washington College Road team in Chestertown. Second most often asked question where's the ladies room. On the boat we have a five gallon bucket that we use for the bathroom. It works just fine and we knew coming into the job that having men and women on the crew play be a part of it. At times the crew takes quirky home movies. Richard's confessional July 3rd 2007

day fifty four fifty three. Thank you. This is Leona Dalton's morning workout routine. We call this show up yoga. It's a small but a busy one. Let's be very very great. Hey hey hey hey hey hey now. OK we're finding out there's a lot of free time when the wind blows in the right direction and finding a niche for self-reflection is important and doesn't require much space. The tone of any voyage is set by the captain Terence Smith

journalist got a sense of John Smith's character while retracing some of the captain's voyage for Smithsonian magazine. Captain John Smith he was a pretty tough customer who commanded his man he got great loyalty from them he got great respect from the event I soldier in Europe and he really dictated what happened not only in Jamestown But on this voyage this shallots Captain prides himself on working as hard as everyone else. Captain Ian by ström has a U.S. Coast Guard license is no stranger to historic vessels and has sailed the Chesapeake and Atlantic coast from Maine to the Bahamas by stream and the crews are scheduled to make almost two dozen public landings around the bay throughout the summer all by or for sale only keeping the shallop on course and on time. Captain by storm copes with the only Chesapeake constant change.

It does get stressful from time to time. The schedule is difficult to always deal with. You can never fall into a routine there is no routine so to live that way requires you to always be constantly making decisions to keep you going. Once on the lower Eastern Shore Smith's expedition was almost derailed by fierce storms as throughout the bay native villagers provided Smith and his men with food and fresh water. He called the Eastern Shore tribes the best merchants of any he encountered in the last week of May the shallop reaches the Nanticoke River on the eastern shore of one of the most pristine waterways remaining in the bay. If the crew and future explorers on the water trail have hope of experiencing the Chesapeake as Smith did they will find it on the Nanticoke and its tributaries in lush marshes.

Hidden creeks and ancient bald cypress swamps stunning in all seasons. Tom Horton is a well-known face in these parts. He lives on the net of coke and has been writing about Chesapeake Bay for 30 years. He knows the bay in this river and it's miles and miles of wetlands. There are amazingly beautiful parts of the landscape but there habitat from everything from the young the fish the crabs to all sorts of water fell. They are a major component of the whole Bay's food system. Why it's such a productive estuary. More and more we're also realizing they have a lot of value and taking pollution out of the water so that marsh system is it's a habitat it's a filter it's a source of

great beauty. Tom Horton fears for the wetlands of the Nanticoke a rapidly agriculture is falling to develop along a watershed is in worse shape than that then the river and I really fear for the river's future looking at what is happening on the lands of the watershed. Captain Smith's map accurately traces the meanders of the Nanticoke which he likely explored all the way into present day Delaware with the help of native people. Historian Edward Wright Hale edited Smith's journals and other eyewitness accounts of the Virginia colony in Jamestown narrative Hales new study as John Smith in the Chesapeake on his third day in the Nanticoke. The people came down in great numbers and were very friendly and they offer their canoes to take them anywhere they wanted to go. Well in fact the tides were against the barge going up the Nanticoke River on that particular date. And they took him upstream

a couple of miles into Delaware at Phillips landing in the Nanticoke wildlife area. A new edged monument commemorates John Smith's Nanticoke explorations because of the John Smith water trail Delaware joins the national park trail system for the first time in all the new historic water trail will offer 3000 miles of bay and river trails for future explorers and small craft for day trips or the entire voyage. It's a worthy companion to other national historic land trails like the Oregon and Lewis and Clark trails. How can a water trail is plenty nice just as a trail. Beyond that I look at the Appalachian Trail which began as just a narrow strip and has become over the decades a vehicle and a focal point for preserving the land on either side of the trail. I really hope long range that is one of the benefits

maybe the greatest benefit of this John Smith trail. On June 2nd Twenty two days into their expedition the shallop arrives with ceremony at the little waterfront town of Vienna. The last stop on their trip on the netiquette at this event. They wear 17th century clothing in keeping with the historic re-enactment of the welcome given John Smith by many native people of the Netiquette week by week we better realize what we're doing out here. Our message history is a line we can learn from it and work to protect this beautiful estuary. The Vienna festival is a voyage back and forward in time

chiefs the winter Hawk Fitzhugh chief of the NASU Way Wash. band of Indian people welcomes the shallop crew and bestows a red blanket on Vienna's mayor. We are used to it you would know in the history books as the Nanticoke chop tank hokum OK monoxide. There was already an advanced civilization here. John Smith asked if my family village Nassib How long had you been a part of this land and our elders told him we had had a chief keef for thirteen generations. We were strong enough that in the beginning the Europeans treated us with some respect. I hope all of you. Thank you for your time on this record is my first time. I can only perceive it. All I know is that all the landings this summer the Shelob crew talks with the eager public in shifts on the docked vessel and insult Tena projects land traveling exhibit tent

designed with maps and flat screen videos. Captain Smith gathered as much information as he could about the bay the crew's mission is to disseminate knowledge about the trail and Bay history and ecology. While at Stanford University Ashley Maloney rode with the women's team that took gold at the 2004 Henley royal regatta in England. Well I think it's very important for people to be aware how the vase changed over 400 years so that's one of the great things about John Smith's voyage in the journals that he made. We have some baseline to compare today's bay with a bit of foreign and years ago. This little town of Vienna on the Nanticoke is a natural for the new water trail with quaint waterfront lodgings and historic landmarks. Vienna is right for Bay life eco tourism which celebrates rather than destroys natural values Sojourners on the water trail can put in or

take out their canoes and kayaks at the public dock. Russell Brimfield is mayor of the town of Vienna adding the John Smith water trails is going to help us develop from the economic point of view. We're not necessarily interested in commercial development. Our manufacturing development we're interested in building on the real asset of this town which is the natural environment the fact that the town relatively speaking is unchanged from the original layout of the town back in the 70s. Hundreds the night of the Vienna festival the shallop crew camps by the dock they'll camp all summer along the national water trail at public beaches or at private docks camping in Vienna. The adventurers host an unwelcome visitor the driving rain of a tropical depression. It's a soaking testament to the crew's commitment. The Captain takes a calculated risk that they

have time to wait this one out with the help of a utility shed that on this adventure redefines the meaning of luxury lodgings. We have a little bit of leeway in time for this. So it just seemed like a better idea to stay camped and stay dry and see what happens. I think we might go watch parts of the Caribbean as a group activity in Cambridge. As capricious as the weather may be there's always tomorrow. Smith exited the Nanticoke on day 11 of his voyage. Today was day 25 hours a bit slower and more methodical or more concerned with people discovering US than in discovering new places for ourselves. A lot has changed in 400 years. They head out chasing the squall which means when they gamble paid off they'll make up time by saying

it's rain gear and lots of tap water. Captain Smith had a lot of difficulty finding fresh water on the eastern shore and so Paul almost reluctantly Smith crossed over to the western side of the bay and made his main inference that neither better fish more plenty o more variety for small fish than any of us ever seen in any place so swimming

in the water. As for want of nets we attempted to catch them with a frying pan. Captain John Smith back on the western shore. Smith spent a month exploring the bay's second largest river the Potomac. Four weeks into their voyage the shelling follows on his trail. Here the national water trail is a study in contrast colonial history is alive on these shores. And so too is the modern world class capital city of Washington D.C. along its forested shores near the mouth the bald eagle has rebounded on the Potomac symbol of the republic in the middle of the river. I'm amazed at the rolling shoreline the bald eagles and Osprey will crawl into our tents at night alongside a nesting female aspect as she tears apart a white perch and places the shreds of meat into her chicks. Once the Chesapeake Bay and its big

rivers like the Potomac boasted oyster reefs so tall and deep ships ran aground them at low tide today oyster populations are estimated at 1 percent of pre-colonial levels. Many important species of fish are also in dramatic decline. In John Smith's time streams of migratory fish swim from the Atlantic Ocean up the bay to tributaries to spawn herring Shad sturgeon. This was in the early 1990s they caught 12 13 foot sturgeon and harvested the role that was going on almost within sight of the Washington Monument a century ago. And now the sturgeon are not extinct but close to it home on June 23rd the shallop lands with ceremony at a certain historic dock on the Potomac River in Virginia. We sailed across the river to a private hole maybe a

few people heard about Mt. Vernon. So Ted the projects and the venerable Mt. Vernon Ladies Association have organized an elegant reception on the scenic waterfront for friends of the National Water trail including Congressional sponsors and other supporters. It's a high contrast to the event in Vienna. Parts of the voyage are quite surreal. We spend a lot of time in the boat with just 12 people doing very rigorous physical work and sleeping on the ground and getting up and doing that day in and day out. And then you know at our weekend events we might show up to a Coke and Thai cocktail reception and have to sort of completely change over to meeting greeting senators and other very important people to our project. So it's sometimes difficult to change gears from one to the other and it takes a lot of

energy and it also keeps us on our toes. I've been asked that question so many times. Have you had any surprises any surprises and I can't really come up with any until tonight and then I had a red pencil. But I think the arrival of Virginia Senator John Warner a co-sponsor of the bill creating the new national John Smith trail signals the importance of political leadership in conservation efforts in the turmoil of all of the things that happen in the Congress today. Every now and then a little diamond such as this piece of legislation comes along that you can proudly affiliate with. Just take a look at the 360 degrees around the spot. I'm standing on. It's all magnificent shoreline. Just as it was when John Smith brought the predecessor of the shallot up here Senator Warner's co-sponsors in Congress of the bill creating the new John Smith water

trail included Maryland Senators Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes. We think it's going to be an organizing principle for the for the Bay Area. We think it's going to draw a lot of tourism. We think it's going to be a wonderful educational tool. Time to the height of tourist season. This stops at Mount Vernon and later at Washington D.C. bring the shallots voyage along the trail to visitors from across the country and around the world. A few miles beyond the capital city of a powerful nation not even the dreamer Captain Smith could foresee Smith's hopes that the Potomac River offered a route to the Far East were dashed on a spectacular fall of rocks Great Falls is a globally rare geologic formation and a favorite of daring kayakers a diamond in the rough along the John Smith water trail.

After leaving the Potomac Captain Smith returned to Jamestown to resupply but set out on his second voyage almost immediately determined to explore the upper bay returning down the Potomac and crossing the bay. The shallop skipped the diversion to Jamestown. They swing along the eastern shore islands at the Chop tank in Chester River heading north along the John Smith trail towards NF. This is the longest stretch between events of the trip. 170 miles by water. It's mid summer on the bay. For those born of these parts that's synonymous with heat and humidity. A test of the crew's True Grit sweat runs down our legs and collects on the floorboard and then runs between the cracks and into the bilge. Yes it's so hot that our sweat runs off of our bodies and collects into the bilge every time we row.

There's a real danger of heat exhaustion and the fatiguing board of rowing it two knots an hour max. One team of six takes the oars than the other. Luckily the bay in July usually kicks up a southerly breeze most afternoons so with the tides are in their favor they can sail though not exactly at breakneck speed. As it turns out the everyday extremes of the expedition are the sticky glue that binds even this one. Austin Hall has worked as whitewater rafting guy and horse racing came together as strangers. We did not know each other previously most of us didn't and generally we have about average to about three to five feet of living space. The crew has to get along. I think that's not really an option. Forrest Richards studied colonial history at Florida

State University and his crude on other historic sailing ships when it's pitch black and you're rowing out onto a huge river in the middle of the night and you realize that you're going to start a six hour shift of rowing at 4:30 in the morning. That's where I usually wonder what was I thinking when that wears off by me. Jon Mann who's also hiked the 2000 mile Appalachian Trail relishes the surprises of what he calls slow travel. When you're traveling at a slow pace it forces you to end up in out-of-the-way spots that if you're traveling by car you probably go to places you've heard of before. These by the way these are the John Smith water trails hidden treasures waiting to be seen by those who seek them out. Every day we have a great sunset every day we have a great sunrise. Oh yeah out of there to be there for them. By now the modern shallop has taken on the persona of a quirky crewmember

sometimes to prod sometimes cajole Kelly Poulos first me with a US Coast Guard captain's license and she has a reputation for sailing closer to the wind faster than anybody. She's a beast. You never want to roar. She's very heavy and you always want to sailor. Slow is not Kelly's thing. But not far from Annapolis the shallop goes aground at low tide. A motorized tow out of the question. The captain looks for deeper water while the rest of the crew rocks that barge like a big baby trying to set her free. It's the most intimate time I've ever had with the bay. Just getting in the water and towing the boat around and trying to take care of her but she's definitely taking care of you. After almost two weeks on July 14th the shallop arrives with great fanfare at

Annapolis capitol of the state of Maryland. It's been a while since the shallop was welcomed by so many and it's a reminder getting there is only half their mission being there is the other half. Thousands lined the city docks for their arrival a flotilla of private vessels follows the little shop. Maryland's governor Martin O'Malley throws himself into rowing adding his sweat to the game which I think history's a very very important tool. So I think it's our hope that with this historic water trail that we educate the citizens of our country and most importantly their children as to the actions we need to take to restore the health of the ballet. Annapolis is a charming historic water town a prime destination for cruising boats of all sizes and from all ports with enticing side trips for Sojourners on the John Smith water trail. As for the

shallow Annapolis marks an important watershed event in their journey. They finished half the voyage but only a number of days they've yet to reach the head waters of the bay and the biggest challenges of the summer are yet to come. And in all those places and the furthest we came up the river as we cut in trees so many crosses and in some places crosses of brass to signify to any Englishman being there. Captain John Smith when Smith reached the northern head waters of Chesapeake Bay he explored all four rivers that fed into it. He knew this was his last great hope of finding a Northwest Passage. Four hundred years later the shallow leaves Annapolis heading for the upper bay and the mighty saw squarehead the bay's largest tributary. It's the furthest point north the shallop will voyage first impression of the suspect. There's a lot of

bridges that you go under. This is the river that supplies 50 percent of the fresh water to the bag. And if your first impression of coming into it is there's a lot of human impact in this area it makes you think that we're probably affecting the bay in a negative way right here at the mountains. John Page Williams senior naturalist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has been keeping an eye on the underwater grasses at the beautiful saw squarehead of flats near the mouth of the river in John Smith's time. Four hundred thousand acres of these vast submerged Meadows provided nurseries and spawning grounds for Bay marine life and food for millions of migratory waterfowl. Today it's estimated only 12 percent of Bay underwater grasses remain. But here on the flats William sees reason for hope.

This beautiful stuff is while celery. It's wonderful fish habitat. It's great for clarifying water. And it's grown in four or five feet of water right here which is a real testimony to at least part of a comeback year old plant. Captain John Smith much admired the sauce quite Hancock's the native people of this river. They traded far north for French metal tools and they told Smith that upriver the sauce where Hanna grew shallow in Stoney falls. There could be no passage here to another great ocean. August 0 for 16 0 run down the curtain on the source that began with Christopher Columbus in 49 metres to get around America. Smiths Falls named for the captain remains a scenic destination on the trail which will eventually extend all the way up the sauce quite Hana into Pennsylvania. These falls are also a favored stalking ground for that other Chesapeake classic

the great blue herons. Just below Smith's falls the shallop sets up camp along the docks at Port Deposit. This time there is no utility ship. When weather hits as if railing against the cruise try at reaching the tip of their tree we're sitting through a tornado warning here in Fort Hood. As far north as we go feels like at times like our tents just going to the ground. There is the way it was but now look at the shelves. Just then another night Don now why you still climb. That's tough man now. The next day dawns brilliantly for Schalit festivities

the shallot departs from its most northern point of the voyage heading south now down the so square and joined by a magnificent flotilla of colorful kayaks from uplift this too is classic. It is really nice because one of our goals in this trip is to establish this water trail and seeing a ton of kayakers just gave gave part of the water trail. This is the big turnaround. We're more than halfway through the trip but since we're still getting away from Jamestown and still felt like we were getting further and further away but now you know the big turn around and it's kind of like we're starting to head for home. Thus having sought all the inlets and rivers worth noting we returned to discover the

river of Patuxent. These people we found very tractable and small civil lemony Captain John Smith the shallop begins its long voyage back down the bay. The trip back could potentially be much harder than the trip and that's because in the summertime here in the bay the prevailing winds are out of the South. If it's windy on the south we can tack into it and make some way but the light winds out it's not really just make it hard to row. And it's a long way back to the south hundreds of miles. It's a little daunting. I never put myself too much in John's fish shoes. I thought you know a lot about how he would have been able to accomplish his trip. They always talk about not having enough water and to row the boat is just miserable.

It takes half an hour near the hydrated before joining the shower. Donald nicknamed donkey was a crime scene investigator at Ground Zero. We listen to the weather radio and it was a heat advisory and stay out of direct sunlight don't do any activities outdoors. That's sort of laughable for us. The shallot rides the scorching wind amidst gargantuan reminders of the modern world. I would like people to get out there on the bay. I'd like them to go up rivers and go like banana cocoa and then go into Baltimore Harbor and just look at the stain of the water and make me sad. I just I do want to have a look at this day especially looking at it firsthand traveling the Troy seeing everything.

The paradox of the heavily impacted Bay and a bay that really wants to live that is really understanding what are you impacts are. And that's part of the solution. The scarred Bay skate is perfect preview for the shallots next landing on the Patuxent. I gave prayers to the grandfather so I could have balance with nature. Today the morning of August 4th preparations are underway for the arrival of the shallot at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum on the Patuxent River at St Leonards in Maryland. There was little John Smith arrived at a native village on these banks 400

years ago. Today's arrival will be like no other a step through the looking glass not for a celebration but a commemoration. Robert P. Guidice is a Mohawk turtle clan and on the board of the friends of the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. This was a historical event. Whether we agree with the outcome of it it is 400 years old at this event. But this is the ONLY a fan on the Captain Smith schedule and all of the Chesapeake Bay is mediated by native peoples and it's to present the native born of yeasts so effective was there historically enough that the modern shallop journalist

wrote of the events as from the native perspective can we make you nervous. Cautious maybe unsure of your steps on our soils this weekend. If we did when you return to your expedition with a greater understanding of the history you recreate. Before speechmaking begins the captain is led to a private welcome at the chief's lodge. It lies in the park's reconstructed woodland Indian village a chance along the water trail to go back 400 years in time.

This village is built the same way it was 400 years ago. So when Smith came up that's what he saw exactly what he saw the truth and what the native people were here. That's the legacy that this program is weaving. John Smith noted many native villages along the Patuxent 400 years ago less than a hundred thousand native people lived in the Bay area thriving on its abundant resources. Today's population has reached a staggering 16 million straining capacity towards a tipping point. They heard we were a people come from under the world to take their world from them. Captain John Smith. Four hundred years ago word of Captain Smith's expedition had travelled up the

Rappahannock. Twice. Smith's expedition was seriously ambushed. One Smith crew member died here cause unknown. It was a difficult river for the captain. The shallop follows on the John Smith water trail. The last big river before returning to Jane's town over the Rappahannock River. It's pretty clear that the shallots journey on this river will be the most intense yet heat index one hundred and ten in the wee hours of one night. The shallop snags a crab pot in the rudder. Their labor is doubled their progress hand by Tuesday and the Bicester shell of journalist is evacuated to Chestertown for heat exhaustion

then later in the week the storm the National Weather Service issues a warning and the captain makes a decision. They've weathered storms in a shed in tents and now it would be the shelter they drop sail and anchor waded out into little. I felt like a crew member on Gabriel's child being called an under someone the Rappahannock at about one o'clock in the morning. There's no motor to bring him to shore when during storms you always sort of second guess. Maybe we shouldn't be here we should be somewhere else or maybe this is the safest place to be. You let out your raincoat and your cold and lightning is scary no matter if you've got a cell phone or not. It's it's hard to hide from the sun so we pushed hard. We shot through gaps in the storm when the worst of it seen past us we moved again.

The storm moves on a reprieve but the Rappahannock is not done with the show up yet. First the beauty then the beast head winds are strong so the crew sails tacking off past spectacular Fones Cliffs on the way to Fredericksburg. Captain John Smith and his boat full of Englishmen were ambushed here. William Riley is the only Englishman on board this ship. He's an engineer and has crude on historic sailing ships before I sailed up and down by a long haul but I've never sailed of the rivers. Each river is very individual so the individual rivers the bits those that will stick in

one line. Elizabeth Cher is a certified wilderness EMT and an ultra marathon runner. All of a sudden we get on the Rappahannock and turn a corner and there's a 60 foot cliff. It is truly amazing. We try and do the water trail slowly. Spend three days on the Rappahannock River in a sea kayak uncovered 20 miles you'll see so much more. Further up the river narrows the shallow reverts to beast. There's no room to sail. Even rowing is impossible against the headwind in an effort as heroic and surreal as a Greek epic. The crew manually toes the three ton Shelob through the shallow waters. They are as stubborn as the mud unrelenting as the wind.

They will not be rescued. Some weeks you gotta earn it. This was our way. The return down the Rappahannock proves less dramatic but no less grueling. With too much sun and too little time the Southern spit of land at the mouth of the river juts out into the bay here at Sting Ray point. Smith almost died after running aground and spearing a sting ray. It fiercely stung him back causing great pain so he had his men prepare his grade and thought he was done for but they had a doctor as part of the crew in the shallow and he applied some sort of oil to the wound and by the evening Abe recovered to such a point thirty eight staying right for dinner. Very macho Captain Johnson that sort of thing to do right now didn't care about right now. Think about you under the new Sting Ray put the shallow crew has its own encounter with a

wild day. But it's a moment of sheer magic. DOLPHIN. Again I did not mean they are looking at. Want to talk. OK. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. This is not one point and the next thing right. OK John Smith want to call this thing right away. We have more friendly encounter with. It's the last week of August and the mouth of the James River this excursion is coming to an end. I promised myself I'd hold out as long as I could before letting those words for the Journal. But there's no denying the feeling that exists among the crew of the hour almost of Hampton Roads. Once again James.

All right there you have the James River. That's the danger of the last room. Entering the game for the second time it brought back all the memories of leaving again. It didn't really look any different but it was like coming home again or never. I mean what are we doing today then leaving nor going to end of the trip. I'll probably go through some sort of withdrawal when we all leave and go our separate ways. When we actually get off the bow in Jamestown and cut sure and know the church is done it's going to feel like an accomplishment. A week we will have done this. If you hear mile trip only under one sail which is what has been done for nine years I'm going to be very proud of all of us and proud of the organization and part of the trail.

For the crew the return trip down this river is deja vu for anyone venturing on the john smith want to train the James River is also a trip to the past national and natural historic Jamestown immerses visitors in the struggle of this colony in which Captain John Smith played such a central role. Off shore historic Jamestown is also a vision to the future. One of three existing high tech talking buoys which can be accessed by cell phone or internet or near real time weather and water conditions local history and trail access. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to deploy a bay wide system of these interpretive buoys. Meanwhile quiet tributaries off the James reveal what John Smith

saw the beauty and resilience of the bay. Given a chance. This 400 year old cypress tree was just a sprout on Captain Smith reached the shores and mock culture. We look ahead seven generations recognizing that the decisions that we make today could have a significant think about the Chesapeake Bay. If we employ that philosophy where would the Chesapeake Bay be the enduring legacy of the water trail. Is it is the first national water trail in this country represents an entirely new dimension for conservation. I think it'll provide a wonderful opportunity for enhanced recreation and most importantly for stewardship and educating the next generation of leaders. That's one of the really the big themes of this project and also the water trail is to just get people back out there to reconnect with their history to reconnect to this body of water and ultimately to have people become more active stewards to preserve this amazing

national resource. We were often asked the question how do we get on the trail. Well you can get on the trail now the trail is very it's out there it's on the James it's on the orchids on the Chesapeake. The show approaches its last landing. Jon Swaine sauterne a project shipwright comes on board for the final. I think the most enduring memory that I'm going to have beyond a shadow of a doubt is the crew the people that I've been doing this trip with. I will never forget that John Smith gala here is a tough little boat. We've all grown to really really love her you know and in love with online chafed honor and where the wood is kind of dried out. Everything that happened your We've done the shellac is warmly welcomed back to historic change to their

last landing. It's a bittersweet moment. This voyage like Captain John Smith is now for the ages. But the trail the trail awaits tomorrow. On the trail of Captain John Smith is made possible in part by generous

support from the friends of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake trail which promotes conservation and stewardship of the John Smith trail and Chesapeake Bay.