10-24-2015 - 10-25-2015, Jackson Creek, Deltaville, VA to Deep Creek, in The Dismal Swamp

On Saturday, (10/24/15) up at 7AM, engine on, anchor up, and we were on our way by 7:19. Dressed in all clean clothes! Ran the entrance channel gauntlet out of Jackson Creek with no issues. Passed 3 boats who decided to skip all that and anchored outside, in the outer harbor.

Leaving Jackson Creek in the morning

Sailboats in the outer harbor

Heading south, wind 10 kts on the beam, finally! We sailed with the engine at 2400 rpms and the full main, and were wishing we had that jib to add another couple of kts to our speed of only around 6 kts. Sunny day, comfortable, cool but not cold. Seas 1 ft, clear. Heard about Hurricane Patricia hitting Mexico with 200 kt winds! Stopped wishing for more wind.

We were traveling south, along with a tug, “Ivory Coast”, pulling a barge. Chuck radioed him to find out his intentions. Chuck: “Ivory Coast, this is the sailing vessel Summer Wind. Are you happy with your course?” IC: “I’m never happy with my course!” Laughs. More discussion. Resolved to continue doing what we were doing, coursewise.

"Ivory Coast" our traveling companion for the day

While we were heating food for lunch in the microwave, our knot meter (speedometer) suddenly stopped displaying. (Power overload?) Tried to turn it off and back on, but no difference. Ok, at least it wasn’t the depth meter, which we can’t live without. We don’t need to know how fast we are going, except as a game to calculate when we’ll get to our destination. (Although if the calculation doesn’t work in our favor, we sometimes add rpms to get there before dark.) We still had speed displayed on our backup Garmin. Chuck decided he would check fuses later.

On to Virginia. We got inside Portsmouth Harbor, an amazing place! Huge commercial vessels (shipping containers, oil tankers) and enormous military ships line all of the ports. Cruising sailboats and cruising powerboats were going everywhere. Day sailors were floating around, oblivious to their surroundings. One almost crossed in front of Ivory Coast, another almost hit a passenger ferry right before Chuck yelled to him, and a third went right in front of a HUGE warship that had been announcing his imminent departure over the radio for more than 10 minutes. Ivory Coast stopped off in one of the huge commercial anchorages.

At the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor, with Ivory Coast behind us

A chaotic mixture of pleasure, commercial and military vessels in Portsmouth Harbor

A careless sailboat was narrowly missed by Navy Warship

We managed to stay out of everyone’s way and continued on, into the Elizabeth River, where we stopped for fuel. After the engine was shut off and back on, the knot meter resumed working, hurray!

Railroad bridge, fortunately, in its "open" position

One of many beautiful scenes of industrial activity in Portsmouth Harbor

Gilmerton lift Bridge, beginning to raise, at our request

Gilmerton lift bridge, fully raised for us

We continued through the Gilmerton Lift Bridge, under the huge I-64 highway bridge and into the Dismal Swamp. We anchored at 6:30 PM right outside the lock, since no one can pass through there until the first lock opening at 8:30 AM.

In the Dismal Swamp, finally!

Sunday (10/25/15), we woke up at 6:30, made breakfast and waited for the lock to open. I popped my head outside to find a calm cool morning. Damp, but no rain, it smelled like piney woods. Wonderful! (Reminded me of scout camp when I was about 10 years old.)

Two powerboats arrived to go through the first lock with us. We lined up behind both of them, so they could be on their way. We planned to tie up at Elizabeth’s Dock, just south of the lock. For unknown reasons the locking took a long time today. But it was a lot of fun. We got to meet and talk to people in both of the other boats, and Chuck got to play conch horns with Robert, the lock master.

We tied up at Elizabeth’s Dock and had a very active day. After 11 days on the boat it felt great to get out and move! We walked to the dollar store, about a ½ mile away, and picked up some canned goods. Walked back to the boat, dropped off our purchases, as well as the coats, hats, and gloves that we had dragged along. We rode our bikes to the CVS, about 2-3 miles away in the other direction, to get medicine refills. We went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for lunch, which was VERY genuine. We didn’t recognize many of the menu offerings but the food was great.

Restaurant and Tienda (grocery store)

We bought some sweets to take home at the adjacent “tienda”, and rode the bikes back to the boat.  Once there, we again dragged out the grocery cart and headed on foot to the Food Lion, next to the Dollar Store, for fresh fruits and vegetables. (We could not have carried cans and produce in one trip.) Each way on the last trip, we walked through a Church Bazaar, which had great music, vendors and kids in Halloween costumes “Trunk or Treating” at the backs of decorated cars (with candy!) parked in a circle in the parking lot. Chuck found some wonderful sweets for us from one of the vendors.

Church Halloween Bazaar

Church Halloween Bazaar

The next morning, those of us at Elizabeth’s Dock (4 boats) will walk over to the lock house for breakfast with Robert, and then we’ll be on our way, still trying to stay ahead of the cold.

Elizabeth's Dock

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!

10-18-2015 - 10-20-2015, Cape May, NJ to The Sassafras River, Chesapeake Bay, MD

On Sunday (10/18/15), expecting bad weather, we decided to stay at Cape May for a “layover day”. I worked on cooking and “office” papers and Chuck tried to replace the float switch in the bilge, but the replacement part didn’t work either. It rained a little, twice during the day. We heard there was a little snow in CT, and a lot more in northern New England.

On Monday (10/19/15) we were up and out early. It was COLD! We dressed in ski underwear, ski pants, 2 fleeces, jackets, hats, gloves and glove liners. We made our way around Cape May Point (it’s always rough, windy and bumpy there) and up Delaware Bay. Still having trouble with the engine belt slipping. (Chuck lost part of the tensioning tool in the engine compartment and neither of us can see where it went. Now he has to resort to another method, which, I think, involves a large wrench…). 

Our tattered jib sail, on the left

We were sailing with just the main and the engine, afraid to damage the jib. I called Hodges St Sailmakers, in Oriental, NC, to make sure they were planning to be around for the next few weeks, and not off on vacation or otherwise unavailable when we get there. Gill said they’d be there to fix our jib, and meanwhile, we should “baby it”. 

Fortunately the seas were still calm in Delaware Bay, and other marine traffic was light. We had a very pleasant day sailing up the Bay.

Calm conditions in Delaware Bay

The next four pictures are especially for Caleb and Andrew, our grandchildren.

Big Black Ship

Big Green Ship

Big Blue Ship

Big Red Ship

We anchored alone at Reedy Island, in Delaware Bay, just south of the C&D (Chesapeake and Delaware) Canal.

Reedy Island Anchorage

On Tuesday (10/20/15), we decided to take down the jib sail so it wouldn’t get any more damaged. We got it down without too much difficulty and pulled it inside the boat to try to fold it up. Well, this sail is huge, and it's difficult to fold outside on a lawn in nice summer weather. Inside the boat, it was sort of like trying to fold a king sized sheet inside a Smart Car. Just not possible! We finally stuffed it into a sail bag and laid the bag partly on our settee (couch) and partly on the dining table, where it looks like a huge sleeping dinner guest in a dark blue overcoat.

We got underway around 10 AM, and made our way out of the anchorage, up to and through the C&D Canal. We must have timed the tide all wrong because we were doing under 2 kts for most of the trip, until we finally sped up to a whopping 3.8 kts later in the day. At least the weather was pleasant, and warmer. I changed from “ski pants and jacket” to “shorts and tshirt” by mid day (but back to long pants by 3:30 when it began to cool off). The slow speed made it a long day. It was calm in the canal so I was able to cook dinner while we were underway.

The very narrow entrance to the Reedy Island anchorage
is between the red and green daymarks. All the rest is rocks!

Entrance to the C&D Canal

Lunch in the C&D Canal

Very calm conditions in the canal

Jockeying for space with the big guys!

We anchored at 7 PM, in the dark, at the entrance to Turner Creek in the Sassafras River. There were 2 other sailboats nearby. Chuck blew his conch horn to celebrate our return to the Chesapeake!

Chuck's Conch Horn, from last year's Bahamas trip