Saturday 10/14/2017 - Deltaville to Portsmouth

We were up very early and planned to be off the hook at 6:30am but got a little delayed.  There were two boats out ahead of us - a large trawler and a large cat.  Our plan/hope was to get to the Salt Pond about 5 miles north of Hampton and right off the Bay.  The winds were from the NNE at about 15.  That would have been fine except for the 50 miles of fetch that made for 3 to 4' swells.  Also, it was from directly behind us so we had to jibe back and forth to keep the sails from flogging from all the yawing and rolling.  What was nice was the current was ebbing the entire time and we made it to Hampton by around 2pm.  So we kept going.  Another plus was that just before we entered Hampton Roads, the current shifted to a flood and we had over a knot of current pushing us into the River.  We checked for marinas and called Ocean Yacht Marina.  They had space but closed at 5.  We were there by 4.  We checked in, ate a snack, showered, and did laundry until about 10pm.

Friday 10/13/2017 - Reedville to Deltaville

Up at 5:30am and anchor up at 6:30.  Left the upper part of Mill Creek and motored the 3 nm out to the entrance of the Great Wicomico.  The last two miles got very rough with the wind NE at about 17.  Got out through the channel under motor alone and headed down to Windmill Pt.  at the north side of the Rappahannock River entrance.  The swells were huge (4 to 5') but with the genoa alone up, we were OK.  I had considered going into Dymer cr. if it was too rough outside but we decided to make it into Fishing Cr. south of Deltaville.  We rounded Stingray Pt. at about 11 and came into Fishing Bay just after noon.  We anchored in 18' of water.  Originally we had planned to make it to Mobjack Bay tonight but it was way too rough and it got worse in the afternoon.  We ate lunch and as we were eating it started raining again.  At least we had sailed for 5 hours with NO rain and were fairly dry.  Phil took a nap below and I am no trying to catch up on my blogging.  

Thursday 10/12/2017 - Layover in Reedville

With a forecast for NE 15 to 25 and gusts to 30 - and rain on and off, we decided to stay put.  At about 9am we pulled the anchor and motored about another 1/2 mile up the creek - for more protection.  It was a little better.   The 50' sloop we had seen near the entrance moved then too and was also laying over.  We had little rain and hung lots of clothes, towels, and rags etc. on the lifelines to dry.  We also fixed the shaft packing leak.  Had a nice lunch and dinner and a somewhat relaxing day.  

Wednesday 10/11/2017  Solomons to Reedville

Up at 5:45 and began motoring out of Solomons around 7am.  There were a couple other larger boats departing behind us.   The wind was ESE around 15 so it was coming into the Patuxant river.  We motored to the south side of the entrance and raised the main.  Then we motored out into the Bay.  We crossed paths several times with a 50 foot sloop and a 45' cat.  It got very rough when rounding the south point but we kept going.  The cat turned back into the Patuxent.  We headed south for Point no Point and, with some current got there around 11am.  Then onto Pt. Lookout but we were far offshore and never really saw the light house etc.  When we were off Pt. Lookout (about 3 miles), we got a radio call from another boat wishing us well.  I thanked them. Several other larger boats had come up from behind us but all but one turned into the Patomac for shelter.  We rounded Smith Pt. light at about 4pm and sailed another 7 miles SSW to the entrance of the Great Wicomico (at Reedville).  We motored up into Mill Cr. and saw the one 50 foot sloop that had passed us earlier.  We went pretty far up the creek for protection from the NNE 15 to 20 knot winds.  It was a VERY rough day with the wind on a port close reach.  The seas were about 3' most of the time.  When we got into the creek, Phil noticed water in the bilge.  The next day, we cleaned that up and found that the shaft packing was the source and I tightened the packing.

Tuesday 10/10/2017 - Dunn Cove to Solomons

Left Dunn Cove off Harris Cr. (Choptank R.) at about 7am. 

Arrived at Solomons around noon.  Pulled into the Calvert Marine gas dock but the attendant had gone to lunch.  Called them and was told he would be back at 12:30. That was fine since they had fresh water so we filled up all our jugs and topped off both tank.  Got 5 gallons of fuel.  Then went over to the free city pump out and emptied the holding tank.  Then it was over to Spring Cove Marina where we hoped to get help fixing a stripped screw on the auto helm.  We got a lot done in a fairly short time and then motored up Mill Cr. to anchor.  We dropped the hook around 6pm, went for a swim/shower, and then ate some of Joan's quiche.  It was a pretty nice day, evening, and overnight.

30.7 nm

7 hrs. 27 min

4.1 kt. avg speed

Monday 10/9/2017 Layover in Dunn Cove

With the remnants of Tropical Storm Nate having passed thorough overnight, the forecast was for South winds at 20 to 30 knots.  It was an easy decision to stay put.  

Sunday 10/8/2017 Bowleys to Dunn Cove

Since I'm not writing this until 10/16, it will be brief.  We started out trip from home when Joan picked me up at 5:30am.  We loaded the car and picked Phil up shortly before 6. We made good time getting down to the boat and all had our chores designed to get away from the dock as quickly as possible.  We were away by 8:30am.  We broad reached down the Bay and arrived at the entrance to of Knapp Narrows.   We got into Dunn Cove around 6pm.