). Last year at this time a couple of friends from Richmond did a sailing trip to Tangier Island and the eastern shore's Onancock (http://www.capedory.org/board/viewtopic ... 87#p187116). That trip was such a success we decided to do another similar trip, but this time our ports of call were planned as Broad Creek (near Deltaville), Cape Charles (also eastern shore, but South toward Norfolk), maybe Yorktown, and back to Urbanna. It again worked out really well. Here are the details if you have the time…We left Urbanna on Thursday morning at about 10:45 am with 15 knots of winds out of the Southwest, which is a very good wind direction to get us the 17 miles along the Rappahannock River toward the Chesapeake Bay, but would be a terrible wind direction to go South down the bay to our next destination. We took it easy that day knowing that Broad Creek would be a good layover prior to the longer trip in the Bay the next day. We got to the Dozier Regatta Point marina at around 3:30 pm, about an hour ahead of a line of thunderstorms. Lou and Kim at Dozier’s Regatta Point marina were extremely nice, offering us a welcome beer as well as some rice that we would later cook up with some fresh sea bass. We sat on the marina’s porch drinking our beers while watching the weather blow through. It was a cold front that changed the temperatures a bit, but still higher than it is normally at this time of year. Oddly restaurants on the water in the Northern Neck/Middle Peninsula area are already closed for the season – it seems that they really don’t get profit margins in this area. With no restaurants to entertain us we steamed some rice and cooked the fish for dinner. A pretty good start to what we do best (apparently eat and sail in that order).
When we woke up on Friday we were not convinced the trip was going to happen as envisioned. The good news was that the wind had swung so it was out of the North, as predicted – ideal for pushing us down the Bay. The bad news was that it was gusting to 30, and had become a Small Craft Warning – Hey, that was not predicted!! But by about 9 am, it had calmed a bit so off we went, albeit still under a Small Craft Warning. Running with the wind meant the boat never felt overpowered, but the 3’ to 5’ rolling waves coming up our stern made it a bit rolly. On last year’s trip I spent the better part of a day and night feeling sea-sick. This year it was their turn. While it definitely took the fun out of that day’s trip for them, it was still an adventurous, fun sail (at least from my perspective
). As the lighthouse on Cape Charles became visible so did several large commercial vessels. There is a very active commercial channel that comes up into the Bay in that area. We were closing in on one particularly large container ship that was pointed in our direction and getting larger and larger. It took some skilled navigation to feel comfortable with a decision to either stay our course to cross his path or fall off our course and go behind it. As time went on it looked more favorable for us to make it across in front of the ship, and we did so successfully. Later we noticed that it was at anchor waiting to get clearance to move up the Bay, and had been that way the whole time!!
We made our destination port by about 4 pm, a bit later than it felt like it should in large part because the channel into Cape Charles is from the south (the port was established in the early 1900’s for the Railroad – they loaded trains onto barges and took them to Norfolk). The southern entrance way meant we had to go around our elbow to get to our hand, as we went South to the entrance, then North back to the port that had teased us as being “close” for what felt like an eternity. This added something like an hour and 30 minutes to the trip, but it was well worth it. We spent the afternoon in Cape Charles looking around. We had a few beers, shared some calamari and a lamb shank dinner at the highly recommended Irish Pub called Kelly’s, while watching the Cubs/Indians game (Cubs lost). Then we moved onto some steamed local clams at the awesome waterfront seafood restaurant called the Shanty.
Cape Charles was so much fun we canceled plans to sail over to Yorktown and stayed put for an extra day. This gave us plenty of time to “smell the roses” on Saturday. We spent the morning exploring the town in more detail, visiting the beach, and walking out on their fishing pier. The town has a strong Americana, Norman Rockwell feel to it, with several blocks of nicely kept houses from the early 1900’s. Some very interesting architecture, both residential and commercial. Despite coming off their original boom, it was apparent that there is still plenty of money in this eastern shore port.
Having walked up an appetite we set our sights on a Maloney Baloney Burger. An entrée on the Irish Pub menu, you ask?? Actually, no!!. All of the participants on our sailing trip were on the hook for "1 Breakfast and 1 Lunch for all", a concept that is apparently easier said than done. One who shall remain nameless decided that his contribution was to be a baloney burger, which was a particularly good idea… had he brought bread. “But you said you were bringing bread”, he whined. And I did… for my “1 Breakfast & 1 Lunch for all”. So after a good day and a half of unbridled and relentless harassment, he bought bread at the local pharmacy (the only thing the town did not have was a supermarket, go figure). That obstacle overcome, the meal was a great success. The Maloney Baloney Burger will go down in maritime history as not only being a very respectable lunch, but also as being much better with bread on either side.
Next on the agenda was a walk over to the marina on the other side from us. There we admired a 100+ foot multi-million dollar sailboat from the Caymans, and another “smaller” 60’ or so sailboat called “When and If”, which was reported to be General MacArthur boat (correction - it was Gen Patton's boat) that he commissioned for use when and if (hence the name) he returned from the war. I seem to remember them saying he got to sail it once or twice after his return, but then he was killed in a car accident. Quite a story for quite a boat for quite a guy. And of course from that vantage point we could also admire a beautiful Cape Dory 36 named Nautica at the Town Marina.
We then visited the Museum on the outskirts of town, where we learned more about the town’s history, and about the recent theory that a meteor created the Chesapeake Bay along with most of the rivers that run into it. Per the National Geographic film we watched, Cape Charles was very close to ground zero where the meteor hit. I am sure glad we did not plan our trip several million years ago. It would have had a completely different outcome.
It was then back to the town to watch the kids trick or treating and some fun people watching. As the day evaporated without one regret about staying the extra day and not wanting to go hungry (as if) one of MAST 4 (which like last year was 3 people, not 4) had prepared homemade oyster stew, with oysters that were actually raised off their pier on the Rappahannock River over the summer. A lot of sweat and tears went into that stew, figuratively speaking (I hope). Much like the Maloney Baloney Burger and the food in the town’s restaurants, the Harrington Oyster Stew was also epic!!!
While we were out and about, the marina had been filling up with boats. This clearly was going to be a happenin’ place. Knowing the Pub was going to have a party and band, we dressed as smelly sailors (second year in a row, and VERY easy) then headed back to town as ourselves. The band Pretty Gritty (consisting of 1 gritty guy and 1 pretty gal) played a mix of country, rock, blues, and soul using guitars, banjos, and ukuleles. Well done, Pretty Gritty!!!
Back at the boat it was not long before we hit the bunks knowing it would be an early departure to make the 43 mile trek back to Urbanna. Noting that the wind had indeed returned to being out of the Southwest as predicted, it looked potentially possible to be a repeat performance from last year, where we did not tack once the entire trip. That turned out to not be the case, but it was still a good return trip. Warmer and calmer with minimal seas, the first half of this leg was a perfect reach up to almost Gwynn’s Island, just south of the Piankatank River. But then the wind died. We motored the remainder of the trip, making the most of it by listening to some football games. Ironically (being that I am a Brit), the Washington Redskins were in London’s Wembley Stadium playing a game. So long story short, they went all the way across the pond, and ended up missing an easy field goal to produce a tied game in overtime – seems a bit like a colossal waste of time. Being a Redskins fan is not unlike being a Cubs or Indians fan - Lots of “well, maybe next time” moments. At least two of the three will soon no longer have that black cloud over them. The Buffalo game (I had 2 Northerners on board) went even worse.
We pulled into Urbanna at about 4 pm yesterday (Sunday) with 89 nm under our belt and a sense of accomplishment.
I should have some pics to post in a bit.
Where to next??? Possibly Reedville, Crisfield, and Pt Lookout or maybe another southern route to check out Yorktown and Hampton.
