Margo Pellegrino is paddling the Chesapeake Bay as part of her 500 mile paddle to Washington in support of healthy oceans legislation.

Margo's Blog: July 12 

What a warm day it was in the water. It was also suprisingly calm and flat. Almost as if the Chesapeake had decided to let me go. This past portion was as chancey with the weather and conditions as I expected. As usual, I feel lucky it wasn't worse. Last night I met two fishermen who couldn't get out, they said, for two days because of the wind and chop. Perhaps they should ditch their dingy for an outrigger canoe!

So now begins my slog up the Potomac--I say slog because I like early starts, but the incoming tide, if I remember correctly, doesn't start coming in until later in the day right now. Well, now maybe I can hope for some good winds out of the south-east.

Tonight I'm looking forward to fresh caught bluefish. Mr. Scheibel, who owns this motel/restaurant, is also the captain of a fishing boat. He's graciously providing me a filet of his day's catch for dinner. This is a pretty neat little place. Yum. This bluefish is awesome.

The day's observations--

Flat water, light and variable winds,saw more skates gliding under me. When I got closer to Smith Creek, and a little more inland from the Potomac, I noticed the water was an unusual green. It made me think of the drainage ponds I've seen around farms back home. One of the waitresses mentioned that there are corn fields all over down here. They're practically right up to the water's edge. In fact, there's one right behind the motel. This topic came up the other day in Baltimore, I think. That farms are now right up to the water's edge. Sometimes cows even waner into the edge of the bay. All those nutrients--fertilizer and cow poo--going right into the Potomac and the Chesapeake.

Can't forget to mention the brown ooze and foam. Earlier in the Chesapeake paddle, conditions were way too rough to see sheens, but on this calm day a brown sheen and brown tinted foam could be seen all over the water from the stretch of water by the military base (Air Force?) all the way to the jut of land before Point Lookout. I've actually noticed this brown foam all over the bay, but the water was never still enough to see the strange brown sheen. How much more degredation can this bay handle before eating the fish and crabs from its waters becomes a health risk?