After a busy and exciting summer we have relaunched Seahawk and began the second year of cruising, what we are calling Chapter Two in the cruising adventures of the Vanderveers. This chapter will be without our missed beagle Bartley.
Initial plans were to head south early Oct, but we delayed to allow our son visit us during Thanksgiving. We departed Annapolis October 12 following a great visit with Michael and, some time at the boat show as well. The morning began with a brrr….as our friend Julie Adamczak would call a 5:30 am start in the fall. We experienced some showers however as the day went on we had some sun and fair winds for our run down the bay to Solomons.
The day started off with an interesting sight at the fuel dock. A boat from Fairbanks, Alaska was travelling with two ferrets! (see photo) We have seen cats, dogs, birds and sometimes kids but have never seen a cruiser with ferrets. They had a large cage strapped just aft of the cockpit on their davit mounts.
We arrived in Solomon’s around 4 pm set anchor and then relaxed.
It rained the time we were in Solomons so I took the opportunity to lay back and we both read and embraced PBS. In the morning we were on the search for bananas, unfortunately the local grocer near the Holiday Inn Dingy dock is no longer, so it was a little challenging but Maggie was ok with that as it meant a nice long walk.
Next day we pulled anchor and headed for Deltaville, or so we hoped. With some nasty weather we only went about 15 miles. Not the weather we were expecting with winds on the nose and a nasty chop. My perception it was miserable, Burry said it was invigorating, but even he had enough so we headed up the Potomac to Jutland Creek just north of Point Lookout. Beautiful anchorage, little windy but turned sunny late afternoon. Had a late lunch at a little restaurant called the Spinnakers? Not much to say about his anchorage except it was a great spot for an overnight in foul weather.
The next morning we headed out to Deltaville but weather was still nasty so we decided that if we had to duck in Reedville (just around the point) but the weather was going to get worse and we needed to be somewhere where we could stay for a couple of days if necessary. Well Mother Nature made a decision for us and we decided to go further up the Potomac into St. Mary’s River. Maryland did not want us to leave. Here we were able to enjoy several walks around the campus at St. Mary’s College and the Historical City of St. Mary’s. Several times throughout our stay we were able to watch the students challenge themselves on the water, racing dingys and wind surfing. This particular weekend there were civil war reenactors and camp displays (http://www.stmaryscity.org/). The fall colors were also providing us with some visual entertainment. During our evening stroll with Maggie we were invited to join a group of individuals who were enjoying the sounds of a 19th century orchestra that was playing music and showing dress from that period, very enjoyable! I do have to add that the most beautiful sound is that of the campus bells.
So once again we will head out and try to get to Deltaville. The weather was nice as Burry would say 2 degrees short of a perfect day. Busy waterway with everyone busy going somewhere. Had a great broad reach down the Potomac and beam reach for part of the run to Deltaville when the winds clocked and once again on the nose. Arrived in Deltaville around 3:30 pm and stayed the night, and an eventful night it was. After showers and walking Maggie and doing some baking we noticed that the boat had dragged; not a good thing. It had become very windy and the anchorage we were at was very muddy. We decided to cross the bay and anchor on the other side where other boats seemed to be holding. Once again we dragged until we set second hook and it held. Even so to feel safe we adopted hourly anchor checks. Next morning we finally fully awoke (after multiple coffees) to find we had swung and the winds had decreased substantially. Time to push on to Norfolk.
A bit of a late start but we left Fishing Bay and headed south to Norfolk, a pretty boring stretch, with nothing except Wolf Trap Light and the distant shore to see. Winds were quite light so no sailing, but even so there were patches of lumpy seas with 4-5 foot waves. Probably remnants from last night’s blow and turbulence of the tide change. Run into Norfolk harbour was slow (ebb tide) but we finally reached Hospital Point and dropped the hook. A quick Maggie walk and then back to Seahawk for a light dinner and watch the sun set. As dusk approached the wind died and the city scape lit up making it a glorious evening for us to enjoy. After the previous sleepless night and a long day on the water we crashed pretty early that night.
Next day had rain and wind in the forecast so we decided to hold off going south, especially where we had decided to do the Dismal Swamp route. Our hope was for sun and nice conditions for this very picturesque route. That night we awoke to 20 kt gusting to 30 kt winds which continued into the next day. Anchor was holding good so Burry called it early and we stayed snuggled aboard for another day, looking for better weather. During this time had a great opportunity to tour Portsmouth, Va; a wonderful place to walk around and learn some history and enjoy some great period houses. Also allowed us to meet Robert from the Mile 0 chandlery, a very helpful super friendly man. Next morning we awoke to clear skies and a promising forecast so at first light the anchor was coaxed aboard and we head off to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.