Quaint Villages and Poor Forecasts

Thursday, May 11, 2017...continued

Tim arrived at 12:30, suited up, and slid into the water.  After a quick check, he came up to tell us that, besides the long trails of sea grass growing along the water line, we had barnacles on the bottom!  Yikes!  No wonder we were going so slow.  We were probably losing a knot or more of speed.  Tim worked for about two and a half hours, scrubbing and scraping.  It's very physically taxing work.  When he was finished, at around 3:20, he only charged us $100.  Great deal (even with the tip).  

As soon as he was out of the water and paid, we left the dock.  We motored out of the inlet and immediately into swells that were much bigger than forecasted.  Thinking that the swells were worse because we were in shallow water, we weren't too concerned.  Well, as it turned out, the swells never lessened.  As a matter of fact, they seemed to get worse as we went along.  We were being pounded.  So much for RC Wings' nice freshwater shower.  Now she was being doused with cold, saltwater right over the bow and through the canvas onto our cushions. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

We had to work our way northeast, pounding into the swells, then north, with the swells on the beam, and then west, surfing crazily.  The wind was blowing over 18 knots with gusts up to 25 knots.  Once we got under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and into the Chesapeake, we thought the swells would diminish a bit.  Nope.  We headed north and then northeast toward Cape Charles, but the swells didn't calm until we were almost at our destination.  

Poor Carey stayed on the helm, hand steering, the entire trip. It was a true work out for him, and we were freezing.  I even had to change into warmer clothes, including my jeans, toque and mittens. 

Glad we didn't wait at Virginia Beach, but we were sore from bracing ourselves, holding on, and shivering from the cold.  We arrived at Cape Charles at 9:00--in the dark.  Never our favourite thing to do.  Scarily, one of the green channel markers was unlit and if we hadn't been right in the channel we would have hit it.  We had been told that we could go to a dock when we arrived, but it was too dark to see anything, so we dropped anchor right in the middle of their harbour.  Poor Carey (again) had to go out on deck in the cold and rainy 20 knot winds to drop the anchor.  He said the rain felt like sleet.  Brrrrrrrr.

We hoped that any incoming boats would see us through the night.  Just to be sure, we left our deck floodlight on as well as our anchor light.  

I made Carey his favourite meal for working so hard--homemade pizza.  We were so cold and tired, we were almost falling asleep at the table, so we hit our bed as soon as we were done eating.  

Friday, May 12, 2017

We had a very quiet sleep, and no other boats hit us, which was wonderful.  

We checked the weather immediately upon getting up.  We saw that it was going to start raining by 8:20, so we decided to move to a dock right away.  We hailed the marina on the VHF radio and they said someone would meet us at the dock.   When we got over there, "Spencer" was there to catch us.  The slips seemed quite narrow, between two posts, of course, but we made it in without too much fuss.  Unfortunately, though, the flag staff hit one of the wooden posts and snapped off.  Spencer was proud of his hometown and gave us lots of good information about this quaint little town.  

Nestled between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Charles on the eastern shore of Virginia is a friendly place.  As soon as we were tied to the dock, we went to The Coffee House on Main Street (one of Spencer's recommendations) for a delicious breakfast and several cups of strong, hot coffee.  When we returned, we registered with Charlie, the harbour master.  We will stay here for a couple of nights until the high winds and big swells subside. 

Since it started raining when we returned to the boat, we started doing some odd jobs.  Carey connected our shore power and checked the dock lines, while I planned a 25-30 nm trip for Sunday (when it looks like we could leave around 11:00), plus a proposed itinerary to get us to the Erie Canal and then to Buffalo, New York.  We also searched for the source of a small antifreeze leak after we found a few small drips under the engine.  My iPhone has been a great aid in seeing hard to get to places.  In this case, I was able to reach my arm in and under the engine to snap a few photos.  

We had hot soup for lunch and then Carey set up the Mr. Heater propane heater for the first time.  We were still feeling chilled from last night, so it was time to get some heat in here.  Ahhhhh, the heat felt wonderful!

We had a stir fry for supper and enjoyed a relaxing evening.  It's so cold these nights I have to wear my "jailbird jammies" (the long sleeved blue and white striped ones I bought last summer just for this occasion). 

Saturday, May 13, 2017

We woke up to another rainy, cold morning, but I convinced Carey to go out for breakfast anyway.  He hates walking in the rain!  Once at the Coffee House, though, he was happy he had gone.  After breakfast, we looked for a laundromat, but it was a rundown affair with only a few working machines, so we passed.  Then, we went to the iconic Watson Hardware Store.  This place has been around forever, apparently, and is more like a museum.  They have tons of stuff to buy, but also tons of stuff that looks a hundred years old. Carey could spend hours in there...and did. We found a few things, including a new flag staff.  Most of Cape Charles' stores and businesses are located on their main drag, Mason Street, so we wandered along the street checking things out.  

Next, we visited the Gull Hammock Gourmet Market.  It's full of gourmet cheeses, crackers, breads, wines, salsas, and lots of other delicious, but expensive, things.  We bought a few things and sipped their sample of peach champagne.  On the way home, we stopped at Kelly's Gingernut Pub, which looks about as authentic an Irish pub as you could find outside of Ireland.  (It really reminded me of an English Pub we were in in England.)  The pub had originally been built as a bank, and we ate in the cozy vault. We shared a Reuben sandwich and a turkey, bacon, apple and Brie panini.  Both were delicious!  

When we returned to the boat, we had a few tasks to accomplish: fill the water tank, add more dock lines onto the upwind posts (to keep us off the dock), modify and install the flag staff, download a navigational app (Garmin BlueChart Mobile with ActiveCaptain), check the weather forecast, and update our itinerary.  

After our work was finished, we turned on our Mr. Heater and had a few appetizers for supper.  

Sunday, May 14, 2017

It's sunny today!  Woohoo!  We enjoyed the delicious cinnamon swirl toast from the Gourmet Market for breakfast and then got ready to go.  One of the guys from a neighbouring boat threw off our bow line for us.  (He had been telling me about an "incident" they had had on the way over in which a swell caught their boat and pushed them into the clipper ship, Alliance.  Their bow was pushed up right under the Alliance's dinghy and put a hole in it.  Ugh.  Time to share the insurance information.)

We left the dock at 9:20.  At 10:20, after motoring out through the channel, we put up the sails and still had 35 miles to get to Mill Creek.  The winds were 13-16 knots and the seas were small, so we were moving right along, going 7.6 knots per hour. 

When the wind dropped to 12 knots, at noon, we put out "the Big Guy"--the Code Zero.  By 1:00, the wind was up to 19 knots, so we were really moving (and heeling).  By 2:00, the "big guy" was being overpowered, so we switched to the jib.  By 2:20, we were getting gusts of 24 knots, so we reefed both the jib and the main.  Yes, plenty of playing around with the sails today. 

There's lots more traffic here in the Chesapeake, and many boats don't have AIS, so we can't be too complacent.  

We are getting crazy winds today--unforecasted, of course.  The wind is blowing at 25 knots, sustained, and, since we were close to our anchorage, we dropped both sails and motored in the last five miles.  It's amazing that they can't forecast correctly even a day ahead. Frustrating.  

We dropped anchor at 4:20.  I love arriving so early, because it gives us a chance to relax a bit in the evening.  This is a beautiful spot, which we visited on our way south.  We even have a little protection from the northwest winds, and we were able to eat our spaghetti dinner outside. Nice!

After dinner, we sat outside for awhile. We are still seeing cool things in nature here.  There was a tiny jellyfish beside our boat, pumping itself along, a striped bee or beetle that was as big as my thumb, spinning in the water, fish jumping and splashing, and birds tuh-weet-weet-weeting.  Besides that, the sunset is beautiful.  As always, we are awed by nature. 

Monday, May 15, 2017

After breakfast, we lifted anchor, but it took a little longer than usual.  Sometimes the anchor swivels the wrong way and Carey has to use a boat hook to get it turned properly before bringing it up onto the bow roller.  It was 8:10 before we started our way out of the anchorage. 

Although the forecast was calling for 10-13 knots of wind, we were getting 25 knots.  What?!  We were heeling over, no sails up,  just from the windage on the canvas.  The swells were bigger than forecast, too, of course, and right on the nose, which makes for a very bumpy, lumpy (and slow) ride.  

We are heading for Solomons Island today, a pretty spot on the west coast of the Chesapeake. Our anchorage is about 47 miles away, which should take about 8 hours, but in these conditions it will take longer.  

By 10:00, Carey suggested looking for a closer anchorage. The wind was up to 26 knots and the waves were getting steeper.  We were doing too much crashing into the waves and the weather didn't look like it is getting any better. Smith Creek was a little closer, up the Potomac River, but still over 20 nm away, so we headed there for the night.  We were going less than 2 knots per hour, SOG, even though our RPMs were 2200. We were going against a current (or ebb tide), strong winds, and choppy waves, and we didn't want to crash down on the waves. Everything was slowing us down today. 

Carey loves the challenge of our sailing adventures every day.  He doesn't want it to end. I'm ready to get home and see everyone, although I'm still enjoying the travel and the sights. 

After pounding and crashing for hours (and getting nowhere) we finally gave up going up the Potomac River and turned toward our original destination, Solomons Island.  It is over 20 miles away, but we can go a bit faster because we have the swells more on the beam instead of crashing into them. 

The new route was so much more comfortable.  We went up the coast and were out of the worst swells.  Our speed over ground was around 6 knots per hour, so our new ETA is 7:00pm.

We dropped the hook at 6:58 pm. We were surrounded by marinas and docks and restaurants, but it'll be okay for the night.  They make a great wind break. 

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

We had a peaceful night with only a few fishing boats leaving wakes that slapped against the side of the boat around 6:00am. The winds had totally died overnight and the anchorage was as smooth as glass. We lifted anchor and were on the way by 7:45, planning to eat breakfast underway.  It was a bright, sunny, warm day and the Chesapeake was as smooth as molasses. In this kind of water, we can make excellent time, but since there was no wind, we couldn't sail. Sailors are never happy.  

We are travelling 47 nm to St. Michaels, a very popular vacation town on the Chesapeake. Since we were close by, we thought we should check it out.  We will stay at the St. Michaels Harbor Marina for the next two nights.  It's expensive at $3 per foot, but it's right in the middle of St. Michaels' downtown, and we'll be able to fuel up there.  Since we'll be at a marina, we won't have to launch the dinghy.  

We know we're back in the Chesapeake, because we are constantly dodging crab pots.  They're everywhere!  

Entering the river to St. Michaels is amazing. It is lined with huge estates along both shores.  It's a winding route to get back into the town harbour, adding 15 nm to our entry and exit, so we hope a visit to St. Michaels is worth it.  I think this might be the playground of the rich, if not the famous.  What are we doing here?

Chris, the red headed dock guy, caught us at the fuel dock where we filled our diesel tank.  Then, he jogged around and caught us at our dock, set up our fenders for the posts, and set our dock lines to accommodate the tides.  What a nice young man!  And so calm!  He gave us the rundown about the marina and how to get around town, including a recommendation to what he called "Lemon Shell", the Italian restaurant here.  We are definitely going to check that out! 

After tying to the dock, we walked down the street for dinner at Limincello, the Italian Restaurant.  My meal had shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels, clams, and pasta.  

 

Carey's had pasta, pancetta, bacon, carmelized onions and cherry tomatoes. Double delish!  The coffee cups were as big as soup bowls.  Luckily, they had bottles of wine on for half price, so we had our entire meal, including wine, salad, coffee, and dessert for less than a hundred dollars.  Pretty amazing when you consider it was one of the best meals we've ever had.  (Are the meals really that good or are we just starving?  Hmmm, perhaps a little of both.  We certainly enjoy our food.)

Later, we checked out the other establishments up and down the main street and then wandered back to the boat to relax and read.  Tomorrow, we'll visit the Maritime Museum here.  

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

USA Today rated St. Michaels as one of the top 10 best coastal small towns in the USA.  Pretty impressive, and we can see why.  It's a cool little town, with lots to do.  

After a breakfast of fruit crepes and ham, cheese, and egg crepes, we toured the Maritime Museum.  Fascinating stuff.  As we arrived a school group was just going out on a historic sailing ship. What a great school excursion!  

The lighthouse was especially interesting to me, because I just read a book (The Light Between Oceans) about an Australian lighthouse keeper.  The museum lighthouse (which was an actual working lighthouse in Hooper Strait) really brought the lighthouse keeper's world to life.  It was quite dangerous (and lonely) at times.  In order to get to shore and civilization, they had to row five miles in a small rowboat, sometimes in big waves.  More than one capsized and drowned.  Women and children weren't allowed to live on the lighthouse, because of the dangers. 

Next, we stopped to pick up provisions and carried them back to the boat.  Then, we threw in a couple loads of laundry, filled the water tanks, washed the boat with freshwater, had lunch, and (most importantly) updated the blog while I had wifi.