Going Down the Bay
19 November 2009 | Mobjack Bay
Beth / sailing winds!
We left Solomon's around 1100 on Wednesday under sunny skies and ENE wind. It wasn't long before we saw our first brown pelican of the season. I can still remember how excited we were to see our first wild pelicans ever on the last trip. It doesn't have quite the same punch this time but it is still fun.
We motor sailed for the first few hours because we had such a late start but the wind picked up to 15 knots on our beam and the current was with us so off went the engine and we had a real true sail for several hours. Oh boy - did it feel gooooood!
It was dark by the time we picked our way into an anchorage in the Great Wicomico River. We hadn't been in there before and it was a little tricky finding the unlit entrance buoys even though the Great Wicomico Light was clear. Jim cast our big spotlight around where we thought they should be and picked them out. (By the way, we consider a powerful hand held spotlight to be essential equipment.) Most of the other markers in the channel were lit and we worked our way buoy by buoy to a spot just above Cockrell Neck and dropped anchor in about 15 feet of water. I must say, it was a bit of a relief to get anchored. There is nothing like navigating and anchoring after dark in a new place to keep the adrenaline up - especially when there are shoals on each side of the channel so if we missed, we were in trouble!
Our plan was to leave at first light, but we woke up to dense fog and decided to wait a bit. We watched the menhaden (herring) fleet leave from Reedville as the fog was lifting around 0830, and by 0930 we were on our way too. We had thought we might stop in that part of the river but decided against it because it seemed narrower and harder to pick a safe spot. I'm glad we made that decision because I'd have hated to be sticking out in the channel when those 100 ft boats came through.
The Thursday trip took us to Mobjack Bay where we anchored - get this - on the West side of the East River on the North side of the Bay. How is that for convoluted directions? We ended up coming in just at dusk because we sailed as long as we possibly could before we turned on the engine. We started out under overcast skies - then mist, then drizzle and then the clouds lifted and we had sun for awhile. The wind didn't get much over 10 knots and unfortunately the current was against us until about 1500 hours. We debated stopping in the Piankatank River - Jackson Creek - where we've been before but it would have made for a very long day on Friday. We are not competing for space at least - we have not seen a single other cruising boat in these past two days.
Dinner on both nights was pork tenderloin, baked with sweet potatoes and onions. I had it in the oven while we travelled so we could have hot food quickly on Wednesday, and we ate leftovers on Thursday - with cole slaw added for variety. (Peggy - your mustard relish is delicious!!)
We are thrilled that the KISS wind generator is back to being its quiet self again. Jim and Richard checked the balance of the blades. They tightened up all the support struts and Jim added a few rubber washers where anything seemed loose and it worked. No more noise!