Bay too rough to bring new boat home?

[Andy Denmark]

Whenever you decide to make this trip there's another important consideration to keep in mind that I failed to mention. That is to stay well east of Wolf Trap light until you're past the northern entrance of the York River.

While the chart shows sufficient water depth, what it fails to tell you is that this area is replete with fish traps, fike nets, etc. that extend well into navigable water. These are (usually) marked at each end with a green bough or tree branch that is almost impossible to see until you're right on top of it. Most of these fish traps don't use floats in between the end markers so it isn't real obvious that there's a net just under the water's surface.

What's really frustrating is to see the bough at one end of a fish net , look for the other end (that is probably missing) then trying to figure which way to turn to get away from this thing. Wrapping up in one of these can ruin your whole day (or night)

While the chart shows a clear direct line between Wolf Trap and Thimble Shoal lights, you'll stay clear of these nets if you plot a course that's 1-1/2 miles (+/-) east of Wolf Trap Light as you head out of Deltaville/Gwynn Island.

Hope you have a great sail!
________
Penny Stock

[Photo Chief]

I waited a week to bring the boat to Little Creek as most of you suggested and I am happy with the decision. Wednesday was a very beautiful day on the bay. The trip took 11.5 hours because of light winds at the beginning and the end of the trip as we had to use the motor to help us along. The middle period was great, 15 kts of wind from abeam. We were heeling at 20 degrees and an occasional 25 degrees. Very exciting for this newbie. I brought a 70 year old sailor that my wife knew. He learned to sail as a boy on the chesapeake so his confidence was welcomed. A very nice man as well. The only problem we had was the motor died at one point. The wind immediately picked up and was strong for about 4 hours. Finally the wind died as we were on final approach to Little Creek. We tried the motor again and it ran find all the way to the slip.

As we entered the harbor after dark we were challenged by a navy security boat. It seems that we were suppose to hail them on VHF for permission to enter. Oops.

Today I was at West Marine ordering fuel filters to help correct the diesel bug problem that had stalled the motor. I plan on draining the fuel tanks and refilling with new fuel. Should I remove the tanks and clean out? There are four five gallon tanks, two under each settee. Lots of interconnections to deal with. Since I was not planning on doing extended motoring I was thinking of removing two of the tanks. Perhaps with less fuel I will have less problems with biological bugs in the fuel. What do you think?

I will have the boat hauled soon to work on the hull bottom and some other items that need fixing.

I'm beginning to ramble on so I will save some ammunition for another post. Thanks again to all who offered advice to my earlier post.

Rich Collins
USN Ret.

[Neil Gordon]

Thanks for the report and welcome to the club!!!