10-21-2015 - 10-23-2015, Sassafras River to Jackson Creek, Deltaville, VA

On Wednesday (10/21/15) morning at our Sassafras River anchorage, we were startled awake at 6AM by the sound of commercial vessels. Turned out they were on the radio, which we had left on by accident.

We motored further up the Sassafras River to the Skipjack Yachting Center for fuel, and to see the anchorage where we stayed last year. It’s still beautiful! The dock attendant said we should watch for bald eagles. He had seen about 30 of them recently, but we, of course, didn’t see any. 

Along the Sassafras River in the early morning

Sassafras River, early morning

Skipjack Marina in the early morning

Sassafras River, early morning

Area where we anchored last year

By 9 AM we were on our way back down the river. The main channel was quiet and flat calm. We did 5.5 kts with the engine at 2000 RPMs and just the main sail. The wind was light, 9.5 kts, on the nose. We sailed under the bay bridges and there were only tiny waves in the water. We called Hartge Yacht Yard to order spare engine belts. By 6:30 PM we anchored in the West River, near a boat from Newport who was grilling on his transom. That smelled good! We talked to our friend Mike Giannotti, the electrician from Vero Beach, who is still in Maryland (working for Hartge) but leaving very soon for Vero, where he works his winters. Unfortunately, no time for visiting.

Approaching the Bay Bridges

At The Bay Bridges.
We communicated with the tug and agreed to let him pass through first.

On Thursday (10/22/15) we moved Summer Wind over to the fuel dock and tied up at 6:30 AM, before they opened, so we could walk the few blocks over to Hartge and pick up our engine belts. It was the first time we got off the boat in over a week and it felt good to walk!

Hartge Yacht Yard, Marine Supplies

West River in the early morning

We completed our errand and were on our way by 7:30 AM.

Leading the parade out of the harbor

A nice day, cool but not cold, with light wind (7-12 kts) and tiny waves. We did 6 – 7 kts sailing down the western side of Chesapeake Bay. 

Suddenly, around mid-day, we got a call on the radio from the Coast Guard. Before the call was over, they had sped over to our boat, close enough to talk. They were warning us to maintain our course, and not move closer to the east. Turned out they were escorting an enormous submarine that was just coming into view, moving north.

Coast Guard escorting a huge submarine

Selfie, with photo bomber Chuck!

We arrived at Solomons Island at 2:30 PM. It was a beautiful warm afternoon, at one of our favorite anchorages. Time to relax and rest.

Cliffs near Solomons Island, where people hunt for shark teeth and other fossils.

Entrance to Solomons Island

Proceeding up the channel to the Back Creek Anchorage

View from Solomons Island anchorage on Back Creek

Home made pizza, we made at Solomons Island anchorage.

The next day we would cross the Potomac to enter Virginia, and this was the last good place to stop for the night. The Potomac itself is 5 miles across, but if we cross the entrance outside, in the bay, the crossing is 12 miles long, with no places to stop. So it needs its own day. And good weather.

Friday, (10/23/15), up at 7, engine on 7:23, anchor up and on our way. “That’s a pretty sailboat” we heard from a power boater anchored nearby. A warm, calm sunny morning. Wind 11 kts E/NE. 7:50 AM, wind up to 17 kts. 7:59, wind up to 22. Chuck hailed a tug and barge to request preferred passing. “Starboard to Starboard, 2 whistles” was the response.

Two Whistle pass, Starboard to starboard

Very wavy, wind 14-27 kts. Engine belt slipped a few more times. Fixed, adjusted, fixed again. Running with reefed main and engine at 2000 rpms. Sail full out, then reefed again and centered, just for stability. Wind was directly behind. Waves were only 1-2 feet, but that was more than we’d had in days. We were doing about 5.2 kts. A lot of rolling. At one point during the afternoon, boxes of spices went flying and a glass jar that had been inside a large plastic box broke. While underway, I cleaned it up and vacuumed the carpet to get up any tiny shards (thank you, inverter!).

We anchored in Jackson Creek, VA, off the Piankatank River, near Deltaville, at 5:55PM. A VERY tricky entrance, we followed all of the markers exactly but veered from the center of the channel and grounded. Luckily we are in MUD country and grounding is not necessarily serious. Fortunately another sailboat, Callista, from MA, came by and showed us where the deep water was. We celebrated being in a new state by taking showers.

View from Jackson Creek anchorage, looking toward the bay

Last year we spent 4 weeks in Chesapeake Bay, and really enjoyed it. We met a lot of other sailors, and discovered a ton of terrific little harbors and anchorages. This year, because of leaving much later, we only spent 5 days in the Chesapeake. This trip was sort of like a pinball dropping into the top of an old fashioned pin ball table machine (from the C&D Canal), bouncing off one side (Sassafras River on the Eastern shore), over to the other side (West River on the western shore) and then pretty much dropping straight down (with quick bounces in Solomons Island, MD and Jackson Creek/Deltaville VA, also on the western shore).

Pinball machine drop through the Chesapeake

As a result, we are leaving the Chesapeake pretty close to the same time as last year, and around the time that people from this area are just beginning their trips south. The weather has been great and we don't feel like it's so late anymore. It's just right!