Sailing, sailing...

This is what our day looked like on Tuesday, October 18.

Happy birthday to my sister, Diny!

We are in Virginia now. We weighed anchor at 9:30 and were off, steering well clear of our grounding spot. No problems today. I took a photo of the fish trap area this morning that we always have to watch for. It looks like a bunch of sticks sticking out of the water. You definitely wouldn't want to run into them, so we always have someone on watch. 

Once we were out of the creek, we put up the sails and turned off the engine. So quiet.  So peaceful.  The wind speed hovered around seven knots with gusts to ten. We weren't going fast, but at least we were sailing. Later, we got a good 10-12 knots and had a great sail all the way to Jackson Creek. 

Carey likes to get out to mess with the sails from time to time, to adjust the cars and the lines, and to feel the wind in his hair. 

So far, this trip hasn't thrown us anything that we haven't already handled in the Great Lakes (except maybe the crab pots, fish stakes, and fishing net markers that are a constant).  I expect that the ocean passage will stretch our capabilities and experiences, and I'm sure we'll learn a few things. 

The further south we get, the cleaner and clearer the water seems. We like that!  

We arrived at Jackson Creek at 2:00. The entry is the narrowest channel we've seen so far; probably no more than 60 feet.  Squishy! We were careful to stay in the very middle of the channel. No grounding for us today!  Once was enough. 

Later, Dave dinghied us into the tiny town of Deltaville.  While there, we visited Latell Sailmakers.  A sailmakers loft is very cool.  Each sailmaker has his/her own put in which they sit to work, while the sail is strewn out on the floor.  See the guy on the left who is partially hidden by his sewing machine?  He's in his pit. 

We walked to West Marine and while we were there we asked about nearby restaurants.  Another customer, Chris, offered to drive us.  Another example of boaters helping boaters.  After dinner, we hurried back to the dinghy, because the sun was setting.  It made such a pretty picture.