Reedville to Norfolk

Saturday, October 8th - Day 13

Air temp 52, winds N-NW@20-25 - sea temp 64

It was a very windy night and morning in Reedville.  We were in a quiet cove protected all around by houses and trees but we still were rockin' a little at the dock.

We spent a quiet morning puttering around the boat and, around 11am, we walked up to the house to say goodbye to Walter and Mary.  It's always sad to leave them.  They've become such close friends after spending a month here last Spring.  Here's a nice pic I took of all of us before leaving.

 

 

We were off the dock at noon.  The winds seemed to have calmed a bit and I was hoping the Bay would have calmed also.  In order for us to make Great Bridge by tomorrow afternoon, we needed to make at least Deltaville today.  Or, we would have to anchor somewhere closer and leave before sunrise (O-dark-30) tomorrow.

It was a great sail out the Great Wicomico.  With just the jib we were making over 6 knots with 15 knots of wind on a close reach.  The Chesapeake didn't look too bad....

About 1/2 hour later I pulled in the jib as we made our turn south.  I thought the winds would be on the starboard side but not sure of the final wind angle or sail plan.  The boat started rolling a lot as the 3 foot, close swell was just off the port quarter.  We prepared to roll out the mainsail as it looked like the wind would be right behind us.

I turned the boat up into the wind and we rolled out 3/4 of the main.  After turning back downwind, the boat calmed a lot and we were able to sail close to our desired course.

We turned to the east a bit to round Windmill point and the roll came back.  A short time later we were able to turn back south and the seas calmed a bit with the reduced wind.

As the winds were going to stay out of the north all day and tonight, I looked for a protected anchorage farther south then Deltaville.  From experience, if you go into the outer Deltaville harbor and anchor along the north shore in north winds, the swell will come around the corner and rock the boat all night.  You have to go all the way into Fishing Bay to get good coverage for north winds.  That's over an hour into the anchorage, then over an hour back out in the morning.

Instead I found what looked to be a decent anchorage just a little way up the York River that was only a couple hours farther south.  We motor-sailed south passed Wolf Trap Light and turned west into the York River.  Once in the anchorage, it was calm and beautiful.  Here's a picture of the charts for this area.  Deltaville is in the upper left.  Our anchorage is at the sailboat icon near the center bottom.

 

It was an excellent anchorage for these winds with only a few powerboat wakes in the evening.  Plus, it would save us 2-3 hours tomorrow for our trip through Norfolk to Great Bridge.

Clear skies made for a subdued sunset tonight but I caught this picture of the full moon rising along with a pretty glow on the water.

It was a quiet evening as we started getting the boat ready to leave her in Great Bridge for a couple months.

Sunday, October 9th - Day 14

Air temp 52, clear with N winds 15 and diminishing

We were up early and pulled the anchor at 6:40am to start our final day for a while.  Winds were still out of the north but much less than yesterday morning.  I was hoping the Chesapeake Bay had also calmed during the night.

As we motor-sailed back to the bay, the seas again started the boat rolling.  No.  It wasn't as bad as yesterday and I was able to calm the boat a bit by rolling out 3/4 of the mailsail and sheeting it in tight.  This is my "roll control" configuration.

A few times the apparent wind went to the side enough for me to let the sheet out and get a little help but it never held.  The sail would be banging 10 minutes later and I'd have to tighten the sheet again.

For the first time, we had the currents against us all day.  Plus the apparent wind was never over 6-7 knots and most times less so no help from the sails.  But we had worked to get close to Norfolk and the trip was not a long one. 

By 10:15am we were rounding Old Point Comfort and entering the harbor along with an 800 foot container ship and 700 foot Navy supply ship. The supply ship got close but we stayed out of his way.

A short time later we motored past the Norfolk Navy Shipyard.  I love this part of our trip and, as we pass the huge warships, I'm constantly looking them up on the internet to see how many crew, armament, etc.  Here's a look at just a few.

Right at noon we pass Hospital Point (ICW mile 0).  Yea!  Back on the ICW!

Now we only had a few railroad bridges and the Gilmerton Bridge that could stop us.  We motored past the first two railroad bridges and they were up.  As we approached the Gilmerton Bridge, I called the bridge operator on the marine radio and requested a lift so we could get through.  She said the railroad bridge next to Gilmerton was down and when they went up she would open for us.

Ahh.  I had been here before.  I knew that the ActiveCaptain write-up for the bridges had a phone number to call.  I called it and got an answer almost immediately.  I asked about Bridge #7 and he said it would take about 20 minutes.  The bridge was down for a train.

We drifted around the bridge watching dockworkers load scrap-iron into a huge freighter.  15 minutes later a train came through.  A few minutes after that the railroad bridge started going up.  Holy cow.  This is the slowest lift bridge I've every seen.  It was almost agonizing.

Anyway, another 10-15 minutes for that bridge to go up then the Gilmerton Bridge went up for us.  If I was continuing down the ICW, I would think this was a bad omen.  First ICW bridge - that is supposed to be "on request" for weekends - holds us up 45 minutes.  Oh well...

Next part of the plan is to fuel up at Top Rack Marina - one of the least expensive ICW fuel docks.  I call them on the radio and get an answer right away, "Do you want diesel? (yes)  Sorry, we are out of diesel."  Crap.

We continued on to the Great Bridge Lock and arrived right on time to be the 7th boat (out of 9) to enter the lock.

As we were lifted about 1 1/2 feet, I called Atlantic Yacht Basin on the phone.  The dockmaster answered and said, "Yes.  We have fuel.  Just pull to the fuel dock when you get here."

About 1/2 hour later we were fueling and the place was a zoo.  The one dockmaster was fueling two boats, docking a couple others and running the office.  I wasn't concerned.  We were here and staying.  It took about an hour for us to fuel, pump out our holding tank and move to our assigned slip.  

Laura and I have been working 2 lists.  One is the things we need to do on Second Wind to leave her for 2 months.  The other list is what we need to take with us for two months off the boat.  Don't forget.  This has been our home for 16 years.  Everything is here.

After our long day, we decided to leave the lists for tomorrow.  We relaxed, had a glass of wine and a quiet dinner on the boat of homemade spaghetti and meatballs. But, Laura did starting packing stuff and I cleaned up a few jobs too.  Can't just sit there with all this stuff to do.

Monday, October 10th - Day 15

Air temp 45, sunny and light winds.  Water temp 64.

Today was list day!  

But first, I had to do something about a bilge pump that stopped working yesterday.  We have a wet bilge and I use a Rule Lo-Pro bilge pump to keep the bilge to less than 2".  These pumps work great for about a year.  Then the lose their mind and revert to turning on every 5 minutes.  That happened to this pump yesterday.  I had complained to Rule when the last pump did this and they sent me a different pump.  I didn't have a spare Lo-Pro but would have liked to put the same pump back in.  I couldn't get one by Tuesday and the marine store here didn't have one.  OK. Put the new pump in.

It was a fairly quick job to replace the pump and we used a few buckets of water in the bilge to test it.  It worked twice so I was pretty confident.  I also have a big, 2,500 gallon per hour bilge pump as backup but it will let the bilge come up about 6-8" before turning on.

The marina staff came by and we talked about where they wanted the boat.  Marty was still working on final configuration of their docks so said they would move us over the next few days.  I was hoping today or tomorrow so I could do it and make sure we had power after the move.  We'll see how it goes....

Laura and I worked on the lists all morning and, by noontime, we had everything done except for stuff that had to wait until we are ready to leave (like turn off water heater, water pump, etc..)  

Staying here for a while.....

Our plan is to leave the boat here until the first of December.  Then I hope to find some help bring her farther south to where we don't need to winterize - probably Charleston or beyond.  Then we will come back in early January to continue our cruse to Florida.  We have reservations again at Burdines in Marathon for February and March.  Can't wait!

If you like the blog, our first 10 years of cruising are detailed in 4 books on Amazon kindle.  They are all under $5 so I'm not gonna get rich off them.  We just like to share the journey.  If you would like to browse our Amazon books, click HERE.  That link will bring you to my "Author page" with all the books.

Thanks for being there with us!