I won't be going to Chick's Beach this week-end

The Chesapeake Bay is becoming to Washington, DC what the Jersey Pine Barrens were for the New York and Philly mobs -- a place where people simply disappear. The latest victim of the "Chesapeake Triangle" is Philip Merrill, the publisher of the Annapolis-based Capital-Gazette Newspapers (publisher of the Annapolis Capital and Maryland Gazette) and the Washingtonian magazine. Last Sunday, Merrill's sailboat, the Merrilly, was found drifting with the engine running off Breezy Point in Calvert County, Maryland. Although Merrill's wallet was found on board, there was no sign of Merrill, an experienced sailor who, after an extensive search, was declared dead. A witness who found the drifting Merrilly said there was some blood found in the back of the boat. Washington has experienced similar inexplicable losses in the Bay. On Sep. 26, 1978, retired CIA Deputy Director for Strategic Research John A. Paisley's sailboat was found moored off Solomon's Island, Maryland, south of where Merrill's boat was found. Later, Paisley's body was found in the nearby Patuxent River, his submerged body tied to diving weights. Although Paisley was shot through the head, police ruled it a suicide. Paisley was involved with the electronic intercept programs of both the CIA and NSA and may have had important information on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that he was about to impart to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

The Bay sounds awfully dangerous. Especially if you are a poltical insider who has made the other upset.