Mike
07/04/2009, Yorktown, VA

July 3rd... Yorktown, Va

We woke up to a cool north wind. It was probably only about 70 degrees and felt nice. Using the rangefinder to check the distance from our boat to where the fireworks will be launched, we found that we were about 700 yards away. The enforced limit will be 400 yards, so we should be ok.

The battle field is set up as a parking lot for the fireworks with portable lighting and orange barrels. If half the people show that they have space for .... there will be loads of people here.

I think that we will take our bimini off and break out the fire extinguisher. I assume that we'll be in line for some ash and debris.

After breakfast, Kathy cleaned and I read a book. Soon it was lunch time and so I made a big pot of goulash to get rid of some of our canned goods and pasta.

We spent most of the afternoon reading. I did begin the process of refinishing teak... heat gun and scraping, but made such a mess we decided we'd just wait until we were on land and had unlimited power to run tools and a our vacuum.

Before dinner we took the dinghy across the York River to check out Sarah's Creek where there is sheltered anchoring. There were a few boats anchored there and we spoke with one couple for a few minutes. Space is limited but there is probably room for 10 or 12 boats.

I grilled the last of Dave's venison which we had with some wild rice and corn. It was an excellent meal.

Comments [0]

Mike
07/04/2009, Yorktown, VA

July 2nd Yorktown, VA

The York River narrows here to about a mile. From our mooring near the south shore we can see out across the Chesapeake to the east and up the York River to the west. The fetch is about 30 miles in one direction and 12 in the other. It would not be a good place to be in any kind of weather but the forecast continues to be favorable so we're happy here.

After a gook breakfast, we headed into the marina to tie up the dinghy and struck up a conversation with some Bayfield owners. Then we jumped on the free Yorktown Trolley to the Battlefield visitor center. We watched the requisite movie and then went with guide in to Yorktown to tour the old buildings and listen to his stories. He actually was very good.

Then we returned to the Visitor's Center and caught a free shuttle to Williamsburg about 10 miles down the road. We changed busses there and continued another 10 miles to Historic Jamestown where we saw another movie and joined an interpreter who wandered around the site giving his perspective from 1607. He was a retired trial lawyer from Richmond and his presentation was in the language of the day with a perfect British accent.

When we finished, we watched the dig for a while and then walked through the building that houses the artifacts found there.

We decided we did not have time to visit the Jamestown Settlement, which is a replica of Jamestown, and that it was time to take the shuttle system back to Yorktown. By now it was 4:00 pm and we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast so we stopped at a Pub on the waterfront in Yorktown for a burger and a beer.

Back at the boat we read until dark and then watched some video....there really wasn't any reason to eat supper.

Comments [0]

Mike
07/04/2009, Yorktown, VA

July 1st... Portsmouth to Yorktown, Va

We left Portsmouth a little before 7 and worked our way out of the Elizabeth River and into Hampton Roads without any close encounters with ships. It has to be one of the busiest shipping centers in the world when the Navy base is thrown in. It took about 2 hours to finally get into the Chesapeake where we turned north.

Yorktown is about 15 miles north from Norfolk and then about 5 miles up the York river. We read in a guide book that there is no anchoring in there so we made arrangements for a mooring about a mile from town.

We were moored by about 1:30 and by the time we had some lunch, lowered the dinghy and outboard, and read for a while it was 3 pm. We motored into the marina and tied up with the idea of paying for the mooring but there was no one in the office.

We went for a walk down the beach... there is a nice beach for about a half mile and it was full of people. There is a net parallel to the beach to keep jelly fish out of the swimming area which explains the number of people.

We picked up some brochures and returned to the boat to do our tourist thing tomorrow.

I fried some Mahi for dinner along with a potato. We watched a storm roll in about dark, but it never amounted to much.

Comments [0]