Orion at Riverwalk Landing in Yorktown
This update finds us anchored within only a couple of miles of where we left off in mid-June (which was Mill Creek). We are anchored near Sandy Point on the Great Wicomico, south of Reedville, VA. (By the way, the original Chesapeake Bay inhabitants were not a creative lot, so there are lots of Mill Creeks and Back Creeks, to mention just a few of the repeated names.) In the intervening 2 weeks we’ve traveled over 150 miles in 4 hops, down to Yorktown and back. It’s been a mix of anchoring and tying up at marinas. The Chesapeake summer heat and humidity have arrived earlier than we had hoped. However, we’ve had a number of cooler nights as well.
Hooking up
We’re getting better at the process of anchoring, doing well enough to anchor in 20+ mph winds and finally confident enough to leave the boat at anchor while dinghying (is that a word?) to a nearby marina store.
Setting anchor is becoming less eventful, but not stress-free. We’ve nearly run aground, had to reset the anchor multiple times per anchorage, and had a few “communication” problems between the bow anchor-setter (David) and the helm (Cathy). However, the anchor has always set and held, which is what is important for a restful night. David is continuing to work on an effective snubber line (which buffers the boat from the jerking movement of the anchor chain). The original set-up, with chain hooks through the anchor chain, frequently came loose and had to be re-set. Upon advice from more experienced cruisers, he tried simply tying the line into the chain, but the diameter of the line made this difficult and began fraying the ends. At an amazingly well-supplied marine store at York River Yacht Haven on Sarah Creek near Yorktown, he finally found a chain bridle, a metal plate with a slot in the middle and 2 holes on either side. The chain links fit into a slot in the middle and then, using shackles in each hole, he can attach 2 snubber lines, run from the port and starboard bow cleats. This will balance the load of the anchor chain in front of the boat.
Another concern about anchor chain is ensuring it doesn’t slip and put strain on the windlass. To avoid this, David has been inserting a bolt through the chain, attaching it to the anchor mount at the bow. However, since we couldn’t find a quick release bolt, this can become dangerous if we need to quickly release or retrieve the anchor chain. A friend we met from England suggested a much better solution, to attach a line with a chain hook to the chain on the bow, making for a much safer, easier to release solution.
Power hungry
Amazingly, our power consumption has been far less at anchorage than original expected. We are only using 60-75 amps per night of anchoring. The most time we’ve spent at anchor between hooking up to electric at a marina is 4 nights, which means we’ve not consumed enough of the batteries to require recharging. So, our generator sits idly in its box on deck, unused so far. (Cathy has even indulged in running fans on board for brief periods, despite David’s objections.)
Baby, you can drive my car . . .
As any cruiser will tell you, our dinghy is effectively our car, while we are at anchor. Without it, you can enjoy the peaceful breezes (if there are any) , read a book, enjoy the scenery, but you are limited to the 36 feet of your boat. We finally pumped it up again and mounted the motor on it to explore Fishing Bay, and then later, Sarah Creek, docking at the marina there. Both David and Cathy have taken turns “driving”.
Blowin’ in the Wind
After receiving our anemometer (wind speed measurement) back from Raymarine, Cathy re-mounted it on the masthead, and, voilá!, we had wind speed at the helm. (Wow! A trip up the mast that actually fixed something.) Unfortunately, the day before, the boat speed indicator had stopped working, so many of the cool calculations of true wind speed and velocity made good (whatever that is) weren’t available.
It’s always something.
We had recently cleaned the speedometer, so the likelihood was that the problem was on the outside of the hull. Going up the mast was one thing. Going under the boat was another. Neither David or Cathy was going to be a reluctant volunteer to hold their breath in murky water under a several ton boat and hope to find the problem with the thru hull. But this time, we got extremely lucky. We pulled into Fishing Bay Harbor Marina for a less than 24-hour pit stop to re-supply. Cathy called Under Boats (www.underboats.com), a diver recommended by the marina, on the slim chance that they might be able to dive under the boat and clean the speed thru hull. To our amazement, they were able to come and dive on the boat that afternoon. Apparently, we were incredibly lucky, since they were diving on a boat on the same dock already, and they are normally only in Deltaville one week a month. Chuck Hyde, the diver, cleaned the thru hull and the rest of the running gear of the barnacles that had unfortunately accumulated in the last month and a half in the water. However, he did confirm that the hull itself was very clean, meaning our paint job was working as we had hoped. Before he left, Chuck ensured we could verify the speed indicator was working, allowing us to play with the wind instrument’s fancier calculations, pondering the difference between true and apparent wind speed, during our sail the next day. The job also cost us much less than we had paid in Annapolis last year. Since our zinc is about 2 months from being exhausted, and since the barnacles accumulated on the prop faster than expected, we will likely be calling Under Boats again before the summer is over.
Sitting at the Dock of the Bay
Despite the merits of anchoring, there is nothing like pulling into a marina and enjoying a brief bit of civilization (aka air conditioning and showers). We’ve enjoyed the comforts of 3 marinas on our way to Yorktown and back, all of which we’d visit again.
Fishing Bay Harbor is off the Piankatank River, just south of Deltaville. Words can’t describe the pleasure of slipping into the cool waters of their pool after the heat of the summer day. They have nice bikes with large baskets available for use by the slipholders. With Deltaville about a mile away, this is a tremendous convenience for picking up groceries, boat supplies (at Boat US across the street from the grocery) and doing some banking at the local BBT branch. With the laundry next to the pool, it’s easy to feel “productive” while cooling off. There’s also a nice covered patio to use their wireless internet connection to stay in touch. This is the life!
In Sarah Creek, off the York River across from Yorktown, there is the York River Yacht Haven, which as mentioned above, has the most amazing marine store. It had a number of parts that David had looked for in several West Marine stores and Fawcett’s in Annapolis, without finding them. The staff was very helpful in meeting both our needs and those of some fellow boaters who were anchoring nearby, from England. The marina’s courtesy car saved both us and our British friends from getting drenched on a grocery run, during an hours long thunderstorm that knocked power out and flooded nearby communities. Although we didn’t sample the fare, the smells coming from the on-site restaurant made us wish we had. Cathy was able to relax with a good book on the pool patio again while doing laundry. (The Sarah Creek area is a little shallow, however. Cathy was a little panicked when docking at low tide to see the depth at the slip register 4 feet. (We have a 5’ 5” draft.) Since we didn’t run aground, we now know that the depth sounder is at least 1 ½ foot below the water line. It’s still a little too close for comfort.)
Hooking up
We’re getting better at the process of anchoring, doing well enough to anchor in 20+ mph winds and finally confident enough to leave the boat at anchor while dinghying (is that a word?) to a nearby marina store.
Setting anchor is becoming less eventful, but not stress-free. We’ve nearly run aground, had to reset the anchor multiple times per anchorage, and had a few “communication” problems between the bow anchor-setter (David) and the helm (Cathy). However, the anchor has always set and held, which is what is important for a restful night. David is continuing to work on an effective snubber line (which buffers the boat from the jerking movement of the anchor chain). The original set-up, with chain hooks through the anchor chain, frequently came loose and had to be re-set. Upon advice from more experienced cruisers, he tried simply tying the line into the chain, but the diameter of the line made this difficult and began fraying the ends. At an amazingly well-supplied marine store at York River Yacht Haven on Sarah Creek near Yorktown, he finally found a chain bridle, a metal plate with a slot in the middle and 2 holes on either side. The chain links fit into a slot in the middle and then, using shackles in each hole, he can attach 2 snubber lines, run from the port and starboard bow cleats. This will balance the load of the anchor chain in front of the boat.
Another concern about anchor chain is ensuring it doesn’t slip and put strain on the windlass. To avoid this, David has been inserting a bolt through the chain, attaching it to the anchor mount at the bow. However, since we couldn’t find a quick release bolt, this can become dangerous if we need to quickly release or retrieve the anchor chain. A friend we met from England suggested a much better solution, to attach a line with a chain hook to the chain on the bow, making for a much safer, easier to release solution.
Power hungry
Amazingly, our power consumption has been far less at anchorage than original expected. We are only using 60-75 amps per night of anchoring. The most time we’ve spent at anchor between hooking up to electric at a marina is 4 nights, which means we’ve not consumed enough of the batteries to require recharging. So, our generator sits idly in its box on deck, unused so far. (Cathy has even indulged in running fans on board for brief periods, despite David’s objections.)
Baby, you can drive my car . . .
As any cruiser will tell you, our dinghy is effectively our car, while we are at anchor. Without it, you can enjoy the peaceful breezes (if there are any) , read a book, enjoy the scenery, but you are limited to the 36 feet of your boat. We finally pumped it up again and mounted the motor on it to explore Fishing Bay, and then later, Sarah Creek, docking at the marina there. Both David and Cathy have taken turns “driving”.
Blowin’ in the Wind
After receiving our anemometer (wind speed measurement) back from Raymarine, Cathy re-mounted it on the masthead, and, voilá!, we had wind speed at the helm. (Wow! A trip up the mast that actually fixed something.) Unfortunately, the day before, the boat speed indicator had stopped working, so many of the cool calculations of true wind speed and velocity made good (whatever that is) weren’t available.
It’s always something.
We had recently cleaned the speedometer, so the likelihood was that the problem was on the outside of the hull. Going up the mast was one thing. Going under the boat was another. Neither David or Cathy was going to be a reluctant volunteer to hold their breath in murky water under a several ton boat and hope to find the problem with the thru hull. But this time, we got extremely lucky. We pulled into Fishing Bay Harbor Marina for a less than 24-hour pit stop to re-supply. Cathy called Under Boats (www.underboats.com), a diver recommended by the marina, on the slim chance that they might be able to dive under the boat and clean the speed thru hull. To our amazement, they were able to come and dive on the boat that afternoon. Apparently, we were incredibly lucky, since they were diving on a boat on the same dock already, and they are normally only in Deltaville one week a month. Chuck Hyde, the diver, cleaned the thru hull and the rest of the running gear of the barnacles that had unfortunately accumulated in the last month and a half in the water. However, he did confirm that the hull itself was very clean, meaning our paint job was working as we had hoped. Before he left, Chuck ensured we could verify the speed indicator was working, allowing us to play with the wind instrument’s fancier calculations, pondering the difference between true and apparent wind speed, during our sail the next day. The job also cost us much less than we had paid in Annapolis last year. Since our zinc is about 2 months from being exhausted, and since the barnacles accumulated on the prop faster than expected, we will likely be calling Under Boats again before the summer is over.
Sitting at the Dock of the Bay
Despite the merits of anchoring, there is nothing like pulling into a marina and enjoying a brief bit of civilization (aka air conditioning and showers). We’ve enjoyed the comforts of 3 marinas on our way to Yorktown and back, all of which we’d visit again.
Fishing Bay Harbor is off the Piankatank River, just south of Deltaville. Words can’t describe the pleasure of slipping into the cool waters of their pool after the heat of the summer day. They have nice bikes with large baskets available for use by the slipholders. With Deltaville about a mile away, this is a tremendous convenience for picking up groceries, boat supplies (at Boat US across the street from the grocery) and doing some banking at the local BBT branch. With the laundry next to the pool, it’s easy to feel “productive” while cooling off. There’s also a nice covered patio to use their wireless internet connection to stay in touch. This is the life!
In Sarah Creek, off the York River across from Yorktown, there is the York River Yacht Haven, which as mentioned above, has the most amazing marine store. It had a number of parts that David had looked for in several West Marine stores and Fawcett’s in Annapolis, without finding them. The staff was very helpful in meeting both our needs and those of some fellow boaters who were anchoring nearby, from England. The marina’s courtesy car saved both us and our British friends from getting drenched on a grocery run, during an hours long thunderstorm that knocked power out and flooded nearby communities. Although we didn’t sample the fare, the smells coming from the on-site restaurant made us wish we had. Cathy was able to relax with a good book on the pool patio again while doing laundry. (The Sarah Creek area is a little shallow, however. Cathy was a little panicked when docking at low tide to see the depth at the slip register 4 feet. (We have a 5’ 5” draft.) Since we didn’t run aground, we now know that the depth sounder is at least 1 ½ foot below the water line. It’s still a little too close for comfort.)
Schooner Alliance at Riverwalk Landing
Right on the York River in Yorktown, the town’s Riverwalk Landing has a county-run transient pier. Situated right in the historic area of Yorktown, the National Park sites are all within walking distance. We probably definitely chose the wrong 2 nights to stay at the marina, based on the weather we experienced. Furious winds and endless rains churned up the York River’s normal 2 knot current to some pretty intense wave action, even inside the marina’s floating docks. However, the staff couldn’t have been more helpful. The dockmaster, Dennis, gave us helpful docking instruction and ensured we were given a slip that was easy to enter and leave. His deck hand, Sam, even drove us to the nearby grocery store in his car. Nothing like personalized service.
You’ve Got a Friend
We’ve had time to visit with family and meet new friends in the last 2 weeks.
As promised, our daughter Bonnie and her fiancé Troy, joined us for a day of fishing. Given our limited skills, we just anchored in Sarah Creek, but all of us (except David, who was focusing on baiting hooks, not fishing) caught at least one fish – croakers, whose name is well earned by the noise they make. Of course, Troy caught half a dozen to the one for Bonnie and Cathy. It will still take some time for the rest of us to catch us with Troy’s skill.
While at Fishing Bay Harbor, a couple from Vermont, who had been cruising for 7 years gave David anchoring advice (including loan of a book on anchoring), giving him enough confidence to anchor out the next night in those 20mph winds. They were also our first on board guests to arrive by dinghy. We watch in amazement as they rode from shore to boat all day in high winds and waves, carrying things to and from shore. One trip included 2 full size bicycles. They tied up to our boat and joined us from some wine / beer and cheese and conversation.
We struck an unexpected friendship with a father and son from Lowestoft, England. Our first evening in Sarah Creek had been a particularly difficult anchoring experience for us, due to the shallow water in the creek and our inexperience doing it. When a boat pulled up uncomfortably close beside us, David called over to ensure they were aware of our anchor position. They called back that they would come over to see us and ensure we were OK. That was how we got to meet Richard and his son, Tom, aboard Green Dragon. Over the next week, we spent part of each day with them, trying to help each other out as we could. Richard had sailed a Beneteau from the West Indies to England many years back and was planning another cross-Atlantic trip next year in the 80’s vintage Hunter he had just purchased. Richard took possession of Green Dragon in Chicago in late April. He had then sailed it through the Great Lakes and, with mast down, powered through the Erie (Barge) Canal. Tom joined him to take the boat down the Hudson to New York City, Ocean City and then into the bay at Norfolk. We heard them describe a powerful storm that they sailed through off Ocean City (max winds 46 knots). With an amazing set-up, including remote auto-pilot, radar and GPS, Richard sailed the boat from below through the worst of the storm. (As a result of this description, we’ve added a few more things to our “need to buy” list as a result. We’ve managed to avoid sailing or even anchoring in some very violent Chesapeake thunderstorms in the past few weeks.) In another hilarious turn, Richard talked about waking up at 6am the morning after the storm to warnings from the Navy that they were about to start “live fire” exercises just ahead of him on his route. He said sailing was the easiest part of his journey. Dodging storms and bullets were the hard part. While Richard was planning to return to England soon after we met them, Tom would be joined by his girlfriend and would sail the boat throughout the bay for next month. We exchanged information about the bay, how to arrange travel for Richard and Tom’s girlfriend, shared rides to the grocery, dinners on the boat and evening refreshments. In exchange, Richard provided invaluable advice on anchoring and sailing, and twice assisted Cathy at the helm in getting into a tricky slip at the nearby marina. We said goodbye late one evening before Richard was scheduled to return home, thinking the odds were that we might never see them again. To our surprise, we looked up to see Green Dragon with Tom and Mo (his girlfriend) on board, at our new anchorage in Fishing Bay, 40 miles north of Yorktown. It’s a small bay.
You’ve Got a Friend
We’ve had time to visit with family and meet new friends in the last 2 weeks.
As promised, our daughter Bonnie and her fiancé Troy, joined us for a day of fishing. Given our limited skills, we just anchored in Sarah Creek, but all of us (except David, who was focusing on baiting hooks, not fishing) caught at least one fish – croakers, whose name is well earned by the noise they make. Of course, Troy caught half a dozen to the one for Bonnie and Cathy. It will still take some time for the rest of us to catch us with Troy’s skill.
While at Fishing Bay Harbor, a couple from Vermont, who had been cruising for 7 years gave David anchoring advice (including loan of a book on anchoring), giving him enough confidence to anchor out the next night in those 20mph winds. They were also our first on board guests to arrive by dinghy. We watch in amazement as they rode from shore to boat all day in high winds and waves, carrying things to and from shore. One trip included 2 full size bicycles. They tied up to our boat and joined us from some wine / beer and cheese and conversation.
We struck an unexpected friendship with a father and son from Lowestoft, England. Our first evening in Sarah Creek had been a particularly difficult anchoring experience for us, due to the shallow water in the creek and our inexperience doing it. When a boat pulled up uncomfortably close beside us, David called over to ensure they were aware of our anchor position. They called back that they would come over to see us and ensure we were OK. That was how we got to meet Richard and his son, Tom, aboard Green Dragon. Over the next week, we spent part of each day with them, trying to help each other out as we could. Richard had sailed a Beneteau from the West Indies to England many years back and was planning another cross-Atlantic trip next year in the 80’s vintage Hunter he had just purchased. Richard took possession of Green Dragon in Chicago in late April. He had then sailed it through the Great Lakes and, with mast down, powered through the Erie (Barge) Canal. Tom joined him to take the boat down the Hudson to New York City, Ocean City and then into the bay at Norfolk. We heard them describe a powerful storm that they sailed through off Ocean City (max winds 46 knots). With an amazing set-up, including remote auto-pilot, radar and GPS, Richard sailed the boat from below through the worst of the storm. (As a result of this description, we’ve added a few more things to our “need to buy” list as a result. We’ve managed to avoid sailing or even anchoring in some very violent Chesapeake thunderstorms in the past few weeks.) In another hilarious turn, Richard talked about waking up at 6am the morning after the storm to warnings from the Navy that they were about to start “live fire” exercises just ahead of him on his route. He said sailing was the easiest part of his journey. Dodging storms and bullets were the hard part. While Richard was planning to return to England soon after we met them, Tom would be joined by his girlfriend and would sail the boat throughout the bay for next month. We exchanged information about the bay, how to arrange travel for Richard and Tom’s girlfriend, shared rides to the grocery, dinners on the boat and evening refreshments. In exchange, Richard provided invaluable advice on anchoring and sailing, and twice assisted Cathy at the helm in getting into a tricky slip at the nearby marina. We said goodbye late one evening before Richard was scheduled to return home, thinking the odds were that we might never see them again. To our surprise, we looked up to see Green Dragon with Tom and Mo (his girlfriend) on board, at our new anchorage in Fishing Bay, 40 miles north of Yorktown. It’s a small bay.
Green Dragon Crew
We are now on our way to Solomon’s to meet our former neighbors, Chris and Margaret for a night out anchoring in the Patuxent. Then, it’s further north in the bay. Who knows, maybe we’ll see Green Dragon again . . .
