We are off on our adventure again (Day 1- 14)

 

Having done all the work that we needed to do, and more importantly, it is getting cold, we must begin our move south before the cold really sets in.

At 11:10am on Tuesday, October 17^th, we cast off the last of our lines that had tied us to our slip on D Dock at Herrington Harbour North, backed out smartly, and proceeded out the channel and into the bay. It was a cool, but sunny day.  At noon, we raised sails in a mild north wind and turned south for a nice downwind run.

The wind died off in mid-afternoon and we continued to Solomon’s Island with the motor.  We obviously had gotten a late start (Elena had to return a rental car) and we messed around with the sails too long before starting the engine.  As a result, we came in after sunset and in the dark.  We had been to Solomons many times, so it was not a problem at all. We had a bit of a problem seeing the mooring ball in the moonless night, but finally found one and snagged it easily.  We stayed the next day due to winds out of the south and because I promised Elena a nice dinner at the marina’s Drydock Restaurant.  We were so close to the dock that I rowed the dinghy to dock instead of lowering the outboard motor.

On Thursday October 19^th, we were underway at 8:00 a.m. for the 42 mile run to the Great Wicomico River just south of the Potomac River near Reedville VA.  With winds out of the southeast, we sailed close hauled for most of the day, frequently at a 20 degree heel, but made good time, often making 6 knots.  We came into the anchorage off Sandy Point at about 5pm, well before dark, anchored nicely, and settled in for the evening.

On Friday,  we were underway at 9am for a short run of 27 miles to Fishing Bay, off the Piankatank River, just south of the Rappahannock River and near Deltaville VA.  This is our staging base for the run through Norfolk and into North Carolina. We have the truck here having driven it here from Herrington Harbour (the reason for the rental car mentioned earlier).

We made our last package and mail run to and from Jamie (my oldest daughter in Richmond), visited with granddaughters Zoe and Ellie,  moved the truck to Jamie’s for long term storage, received the cover for our dinghy that we ordered last spring, topped off with fuel and water, and got enough groceries to last us a week of cruising to our next staging stop in Oriental, NC.

Unfortunately, we were unable to visit my youngest, Jessie, who lives with her husband and two little ones in Lynchburg. But we did get to visit our Deltaville friends, Bill and Mary.  We met Bill and Mary when we were anchored off of their dock on Jackson Creek when Elena and I had both forgotten our anniversary in May 2015 and ended up spending the evening with them, and it was a very memorable day.

It is worth noting that the changes to our sail system have worked out well.  We had a stack pack for the mainsail installed last summer here in Deltaville but did not have a chance to work with it much.  When we lower the main, we simply let go the halyard and it falls right into the stack pack with no need to stow it further.

As previously discussed, we also installed a roller-furler for the staysail. Previously, to lower the sail, I had to go to the bow to lower and then either tie it off or stow it into a bag. Both changes added greatly to our ability to operate all our sails from the cockpit and thus avoid going out on deck in rough weather unnecessarily. More importantly, the changes made Elena a happier sailor.

Old way to stow the staysail.  A trip to the bow and a wrestling match with sail to tie it off was always necessary to take it down

Download New Staysail Roller Furler Video

We departed Deltaville for Hospital Point on the Elizabeth River (Norfolk, Virginia) at first light, Halloween, Tuesday, October 31.