Smith Creek--Back in the Potomac

Catching up.

Ater Norfolk, we spent the next night in Mobjack Bay Ware Creek. Rafted up with fellow SCOW-ers Doug Kelch and Mike Murphy and their friend Stan from Hampton, all in their Montgomery 15s, which they had trailerd down and put in earlier in the weekend. Beautiful evening on a quiet creek with friends. Gentle sail out Monday morning, watching a regatta of small boats on the Mobjack. Caught the only fish of the trip--10 inches. Released the poor thing. Looking for something larger.

Tuesday night --We made it to Smith point, a tricky little spot to get into with the tide running hard. Cooked porl loin rolled around apples and settled in for the night. Wednesday morning we motored up Lesser Wicomico and took a look at the cable ferry. Beautifil homes on a gorgeous little river.

Wednesday--Tom's Birthday so we sailed on just the jib out while Tom fished. Then light winds made sailing tough so we motored to Smith Creek above Point Lookout. Bice Marina nd we treated Tom to dinner and Dorothy broke out the cake berries and whipped cream for dessert.

Wind will soon be back up to 15-20 knots but alas, from the North. I am learning that prevailing southerly winds of summer change over to prevailing northerly winds as winter approaches. But we are closer to home now.

Norfolk--Back from the Sea

http://www.watersidemarina.com/

Saturday--
Began our trip to Atlantic at Cape Charles at 0830.
Winds from NE at 15-20. Great sailing. Forecast was for five foot swells in Atlantic so we secured everything and those who had it donned foul weather gear. Dorothy's experience shined here.Two hours to the bay-bridge-tunnel. There the oncoming wind and rollers --and a boat coming in on poles convinced us that sailing under this bridge--even with a motor pushing was not a good idea. Dropped sails and Dorothy took Liberty Belle into the fray under the bridges. Two highways mean two sets of bridges but he spans were offset so it added a little challenge. Dorothy was up to it and we were through and then 'hurrah' ,then realized we had come to sail in the ocean and had to put up the sails. This was a grand chance after all and one of the real reasons we came this far. Magnificent bucking seas but we could not stay for long because our destination was Norfolk that night so we headed south to Cape Henry and the lighthouses to get a view from the sea. Feeling like real sailors though the little 25 foot Belle was probably the only one of us designed for that rough weather.
The combination of rolling swells and a broad reach coming back meant the boat pitched and turned sometimes up to 45 degrees. What fun. Passed several tankers and cargo ships that were at anchor coming back and we joked about not T-boning an anchored boat, a reference to past experiences.
Then several tankers and cargo vessels passed us and we yielded the channel to them readily. Lots of traffic coming into Norfolk and no shortage of channel markers. Back and forth between charts and GPS the tell the difference but in the end it was a fairly simple--in a daylight operation and we ended up at downtown Norfolk and the waterfront marina. Pizza and beer and ice cream for the sailors who took on the Atlantic, if only for a few hours that day.
Tomorrow we head north.

The Ocean and Norfolk today

Forecast is sunny and breezy, with NW winds at 15-20. Could not ask for more.
We are up and at it, with hot coffee and sandwiches made for later lunch. arrggh

Cape Charles--Good place to visit

Thursday evening.

Beautiful fall weather here and surprisingly, a lot of development, to include a huge new marina and beach housing. Fairly upscale. The best news is that for $2 foot berthing fee, you can get free wireless, laundry, very upscale showers, free bikes to ride. The town was originally established in late 1800's as a railroad terminus at the southern end of the eastern shore, then dried up when the bay-bridge tunnel was built. With the real estate boom, the place has florished like Betheny Beach, etc. Since we were getting around late in the morning, and needed a full day we thought to go the rest of the way south on the eastern shore, into the atlantic, then dash to Norfolk before dark, we decided to postpone that a day so we could get an early start. After the tough entrance to Cape Charles after dark the previous night we had lost some bravado and want to get into Norfolk shipping before dark.
So we explored the town, did laundry and rode bikes thru the development and back into Cape Charles. Saw a light house so we rode our bikes there. Discovered the town had actually transformed the municipal water tower into a light house look alike, painted black with fake windows etc. Had Dorothey and me completely fooled.

Tomorrow we take Liberty Belle into the Atlantic... A little nervous..

Cape Charles--just made it. read more...

Thurs night arrived after dark at Cape Charles, almost the Southern tip of eastern shore after a day sailing with light wind. Previous night in Onancock.
Tom at the helm, Dorothy up on the bow with a spotlight, Steve navigating (?).

Well, after passing several red marks, always to starboard, right? WRONG.

Coming up on the last red buoy, Dorothy was the first to spot the flaw in the red right return motto. About 30 feet past the last red buoy was a rock rip rap seawall. Of course Dorothy calmly pointed out that her Liberty Belle was about to be crushed on the rocks. Literally STOP, STOP the boat... Hard to understand why anyone would want to stop the boat but, upon verifying that there was in fact an unmovable stone jetty about two boat lengths in front of us, Tom slammed the engine in revers revving the engine hard and we backed off. We thus made it in safely but learned several lessons. Night time arrivals in a strange port are hazardous; you cannot trust the coast guard to have proper aids to navigation (there is a coast guard station at Cape Charles...), keep all hands focused on the approach and wary--ready for anything.

More later on dumping dinner into the Bay, the neat town of Cape Charles --by daylight, etc.
We would have posted more but found few wifi spots so far.

It has been a marvelous trip. Stay tuned for details.

Boat Prep

Spending the weekend preparing the boat--actually mostly Tom preparing the boat...