Deltaville to Hampton, VA

Day #353; Loop Miles to Date = 4,276

Well...our plan was to leave Deltaville early last Wednesday so that we could catch the best possible weather/current window for our trip to Hampton. We had over 50 miles of open water to traverse on the Bay, so we were looking for some reasonable conditions. The forecast wasn't entirely friendly, but it was worse later in the week so we decided to go for it. We got off early (6:30am), and it didn't take long to understand that it was going to be a long day in fairly heavy seas. Not our favorite travel scenario, but we decided to press on. We had 3' seas most of the way, and then the last 10 miles or so, we found ourselves in 4' to 6' seas. Needless to say...we were delighted to pull into our slip in a protected marina at about noon. A long morning, but safe and sound none the less.

So, we've been camped out here since then, and will likely be here another couple of days. We canceled a stop in Cape Charles because the weather wasn't friendly to get over there. And tomorrow we were going to head to Smithfield for a day, but the weather tomorrow looks a bit unsettled. So, we're gonna take a car ride instead to go visit there today (Monday). We will decide tomorrow when we want to leave here and head further south.

Last Friday, we took a day trip to Colonial Williamsburg, and enjoyed a beautiful day walking the streets of this wonderful town. It was busy there, but not slammed with tourists like it must get on weekends or in the summer. We had fun just poking around and soaking it all in...and of course doing some shopping. We didn't take a ton of pics, but here are a few...

Bruton Parish Church...an active parish for over 300 years.

Some rather famous names are associated with this church...General George Washington to name one. We also saw a pew for Thomas Jefferson.

A beautiful garden that was tucked in behind one of the houses...we're not entirely sure that we were supposed to be back here, but it was gorgeous.

We've spent the rest of our time here just enjoying Hampton...wandering around. Plus, we had a rental car for a few days, so we managed to get quite a few other things accomplished as well. We provisioned at Costco, spent a few hours in Bass Pro Shops, stopped in at Petsmart, found a couple of good eateries, saw a movie, and even went bowling just for kicks!

A neat house we encountered walking the streets of Hampton...it was for sale, so Sandy decided to give it a peek!

Our spot for the week. We're not sure if these are necessarily Christmas lights already, but they sure do look pretty. That's a restored carousel in the background with some beautifully restored wooden horses. It's run by the city of Hampton, and is still open every day.

And now, off to Smithfield for the day...

Deltaville, VA (Regatta Point Marina)

Day #346; Loop Miles to Date = 4,224

We've now been in Deltaville for about 5 days, and it has been a nice relaxing stop. There isn't a lot to do "in town", but they do have courtesy cars here at the marina for our use. So, we've wandered into town a couple of times...mostly for groceries and to visit a West Marine just down the street. Sandy was also able to find a spa in the area and treated herself to a much needed massage...that felt really good!

We have managed to get a couple of boat "things" attended to. On Thursday, we had an A/C guy come on the boat to help fix the drain issue we had with one of our units. This is the newer unit, and when it was installed, we re-used the existing drain line...which was fine. However, after a period of time, we realized that the drip pan under the unit was collecting water before it would drain. Basically, the easiest fix was to raise the entire unit by about 1" to promote proper draining. So, we had some help with this, and it is now draining perfectly.

Also, on Friday, we had the boat pulled out of the water to clean the bottom, and check the zincs and the prop. The bottom line is that everything looked terrific! The bottom did need to be cleaned, but the bottom paint is in great shape, no dings on the prop, and we changed out the shaft zinc while we had it out of the water. All in all, a very quick and successful haut-out...it couldn't have gone better.

The culinary highlight thus far has been the fried chicken from the market...wow is it ever good. It has been dinner for us 2 nights already, and more than likely we'll do it one more time just for good measure! Not the healthiest of choices...but boy it is really, really good fried chicken.

We have caught up on laundry, boat washing, rug shampooing, and other chores while here, and now we are sitting around wasting time waiting for the rain to quit. Here's our view out the window right now:



The marina building. They have a nice big porch with rocking chairs, a TV room/lounge, plus a large meeting room for groups to use. Back behind here are a swimming pool, bathrooms and showers, and the laundry room. It is a nice set-up. Our slip is right up front, making it really easy for dog walking.

Yesterday was a much nicer day, and of course we didn't have the camera out then. But our friend Susan did...here is a cool black and white shot of us in our slip:

 

 

So for today...we'll just watch the rain and probably some TV. If it subsides as we hope, we plan to leave tomorrow early in the morning, heading south. Stay tuned...

Onancock, VA to Kilmarnock (Chesapeake Boat Basin) to Deltaville, VA

Day #341; Loop Miles to Date = 4,224

Confession for the day...we have no pictures to share...another streak of not taking pictures, coupled with marginal wifi connections. So, we'll just give you a brief update...

Last Monday, we left Onancock and traveled to Chesapeake Boat Basin in Kilmarnock, VA. We stayed an extra day in Onancock...the bay was a bit too rough for our liking, so we camped out and waited for better weather. We enjoyed our visit in Onancock...finding a small festival, some so-so live music to enjoy, a few interesting shops, and a couple of decent restaurants. Plus we enjoyed some local color while attending a Sally Fields movie at the local one-screen movie theater. We were there with just about everyone who lives in Onancock who was 65 and older! It's definitely a small town...everyone there knew everyone else.

We had to cross the bay to get to Kilmarnock, and even though we waited an extra day for calmer conditions, we didn't really get them. We found ourselves with a 3-4 foot following sea, with some left over rollers on our beam...not the most comfortable couple of hours, but no issues really. Chesapeake Boat Basin was a nice stop (thanks to Sonny and Phyllis for the recommendation). We had an awesome burger at the local burger joint, enjoyed some good ice cream, found a Wal-Mart for some supplies, and generally had a relaxing couple of days.

Then on Wednesday, we drove all the way to Deltaville, VA (actually only 15 miles) and we are now camped out at Doziers Regatta Point Marina. We'll be here for a week, and it looks like a good choice...other than slow wifi. We are going to have the boat pulled out of the water on Friday for a quick clean and look-see at the bottom. We don't expect any issues, but it's time to take a peek at it, and get the algae and other crud power washed off.

So, that's the quick update...we'll try to have some interesting pictures next time.

Somers Point to Onancock, VA

Day #335; Loop Miles to Date = 4,174

We had a blast for the balance of our stay in Crisfield, MD. Hermine blew through with no major issues, and the Hard Crab Derby Festival smashed as many events as they could into the last day (Sunday) after canceling events on Saturday. We saw the crab picking contest, the crab races, and then all afternoon we watched the docking competition...which was fantastic. For anyone out there who might be planning a trip to the Chesapeake next summer...mark your calendars for Chrisfield over Labor Day. The folks at Somers Cove were outstanding with their service, and the weekend will not disappoint. And after all the carnival rides were over, and the crab boats went home, they finished off the weekend with a fireworks display that was first rate. All in all, a wonderful stop for our summer on the Chesapeake.

Getting ready to start the crab picking contest.

 

 

This lady on the left won the contest...picking over 2 pounds of lump crab meat in 15 minutes.

The Governors Crab Race...each state was represented by a crab in the race. Cute idea, but not really all that entertaining in the end.

Some pics of the docking contest...they don't really do it justice...if we can get a decent wifi signal, we will try to share a video in one of our future posts.

These guys are snagging the piling that got snapped off during the competition...

Yep...snapped clean off.

On Tuesday, we joined our friends from Corkscrew and Sum Escape for a ferry ride over to Tangier Island. We could have taken our boat over for a one-night stay, but the ferry ended up being the better choice. Tangier Island is a small crabbing village that traces it's roots back 100's of years. There is still a local population of about 730 people, who historically have been rather isolated from the rest of the world. The onset of technology has changed this, but there is still a local culture that is interesting and they are trying to preserve it as much as they can. Unfortunately, rising sea levels and erosion is causing the island to disappear at a rate of abut 9 acres per year (the total area of the island is only about 740 acres). It was an interesting couple of hours and we are glad we made the effort to visit this unique slice of Americana.

Working crab shanties...these must take a beating in heavy storms.

This is the supply boat that comes in daily to provision the entire island...their only source really for food and supplies.

On Wednesday, we traveled to Onancock, VA, which is a small town on the southern part of the Delmarva peninsula. It appears to be a quaint little town, with enough going on to keep us occupied for a couple of days...one-screen movie theatre, farmers market, art walk, and a handful of shops to peruse. The people here are most welcoming, and are making it a very enjoyable stay thus far. (We have a weak wifi signal...so we are going to try this post and then likely not post again until after we leave here after the weekend.)

All for now...

Tilghman Island to Calvert to Somers Cove (Crisfield) - Hermine!

Day #330; Loop Miles to Date = 4,144

We're a bit tardy with this post, but will try to catch you up quickly.

We left Tilghman on Chesapeake after another very enjoyable stay...it's just a great place to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. Our next destination was back to Calvert Marina in Solomons, MD...really just a reliable spot to crash for a few days in advance of our Labor Day plans in Crisfield, MD. It's easy...nice floating docks, courtesy car for provisioning, easy dog walking, no hustle and bustle at all. So, we camped out for 3 days, doing not much of anything...but we got provisions easily, filled up with fuel, pumped out, and were on our way on Wednesday this past week heading for Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield.

Lieutenant 1st Grade Sarah Chapel of the NOAA research vessel Bay Hydro II. This vessel is home ported here in Calvert and is one of the ships that performs the surveys that ultimately turn into updates for all of our nautical charts. They had just come home from a 3 month tour up on the Hudson.

Another shot of the Bay Hydro II.

This is a monument commemorating the location of the US Naval Amphibious Training Base that was located in Solomons, MD. During WWII, this base served as home to as many as 10,000 Navy personnel who were training for amphibious assaults.

While we were at Calvert, we started to track the development of what eventually became Hurricane Hermine. We knew we were headed to Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield, MD, and also knew that this marina offered an extremely protected basin that should provide excellent protection in the event that this storm system turned nasty. As it turned out, we also found that this marina was a designated port of refuge, meaning that anyone and everyone could be heading here if things turned bad. So, on Wednesday we headed for Crisfield knowing that we had a reservation that would last through whatever storm came our way.

Fortunately, Hermine chose to veer out to sea before inflicting much pain to where we were...about all we received was some gusty winds and a fair bit of rain. And the high tide was quite a bit higher than normal, but otherwise, we had no issues.

The unfortunate part of the story is that our plans for a fun filled weekend were dampened by the weather as many of the activities that were part of the weekend Crab Derby Festival were cancelled. No parade, no concert, etc. But, they rescheduled some stuff for tomorrow, and the main event is still scheduled - and we can't wait. It is a Waterman's Docking Contest. The watermen bring in their boats, and participate in a contest that promises to bring lots of excitement...we plan to have stories of boats crashing into docks, and fisherman flying off of boats to get tied up quicker than their competitors...it should be a ball of fun. We just hope that the winds die down a tad so that they are not tempted to cancel this too!

The good news is that we are in the company of a bunch of good friends who also came for the festivities. We pretty much have our own dock all to ourselves...our friends on Corkscrew, ACT III, Inspeyered II and Sum Escape are all lined up in a row...it's great to have them all here with us!

One of the highlights of our stay here thus far is that we did some crabbing! After all, this area is crab country, and much of the local economy is still fueled by the crabbing industry. Tom, the marina director grew up in a crabbing family, and offered to take us out for a few hours to see how it's done and catch some crab. It was phenomenally interesting and we caught close to a bushel within about an hour and a half. I say "we", but all we were doing was following Tom's instruction and he really did all of the hard work. 4 of us went out...Sonny from Corkscrew, Tom from Sum Escape, Jeff from ACT lll, and Rob.

And to top it all off, Tom (the marina director) cooked them all up when we came in, and we proceeded to have a crab feast! We ate all that we could, and we still had 15 to 20 crab left over. It was great fun, and a really cool learning experience. (Thanks to Tom and Julie for the pics.)

Rob, Sonny and Jeff getting some instruction.

Tom giving us a lesson in how to clean a crab so that you don't take all day to get ready to eat it.

After awhile we got the hang of it...and proceeded to scatter crab all over the place (Jeff, Tom, Sonny, Susan, and Sandy).

Now we've really made a mess...and still 15 to 20 crab to go (Phyllis, Susan and Sandy).

Last night, they had the carnival rides open, and also an open air market with all kinds of vendors selling wares and food. The night sky in advance of the storm was tremendous...this pic doesn't really do it justice.

All for now...hopefully some more pics and scoop on the docking competition...fingers crossed that this too doesn't get canceled. Stay tuned...