June 1, 2019 – Portsmouth, Hampton, Deltaville

Day 1. The start of my first bigger journey aboard Hesperus, a 2000 Monk 36

In some ways, my first day of cruising was typical for boating.  A cold front had gone through last night and wow, did it rain.  I was on the boat at Virginia Yacht and Boat, as that was my staging location after all the boat work on the haul out.  Anna helped me get the last few items loaded onboard and put the salon covers back on the cushions.  Unfortunately, I can be rough on things, so these covers are a necessity.

The morning was cool and of course everything was wet.  It was a kindness as it washed all the yard dirt off the deck and I avoided washing the decks this morning.  Maybe sometime tomorrow when I get to Pocomoke City.  

After looking at the weather, which was iffy, I decided to get underway.  The weather service was calling for severe thunderstorms, high winds and heavy rain.  Yes, I went anyway.  I thought I could escape the worst of it as the big red and yellow stuff was east of the Elizabeth River, no problem.  What I did not realize is how much this storm would bloom up. By the time I was approaching the Navy base, it was full blown.  25 MPH winds, waves sometimes at 4 feet and of course thunder and lightning. The works.  Reviewing the radar on the good old iPhone, I decided that common sense was the better part of valor and decided to route myself to Hampton. That would turn out to be a pretty poor showing for the first days trip and wondered it that was an omen. Luckily, I am familiar with the local waters, so heading to Hampton with severely reduced visibility would not be a big issue.  Also, I was hoping the storm would clear out to the east as I neared my destination.

The storm got much worst after taking this picture

As luck would have it, Sailors luck, the weather did moderate although the wind and waves were still high, I made it into Hampton River.  As expected, the water was flat as a pancake without even much of a breeze. I dropped anchor near the Custom’s House Marina with the company of 2 sailboats anchored nearby.  It was an easy anchor as it bit in right away and shut all systems down.  With some rain still dropping I thought I would make the most of it.

As it turns out, this weekend is Hampton’s Black Beard Festival.  Back in its day, it was one of two huge festivals Hampton put on.  The river was usually packed with rafted up sail and power boats.  This year, only the two cruisers and myself.  Dead, dead and dead.  I think the pirate camp was still there as they were firing off canons in Mill Point Park. I love to hear cannon fire.  I guess because it is close to fireworks. Bing, bang boom.

As the weather started clearing, I looked at radar and wind reports and decided to push on either to Chisman creek or Jackson Creek in Deltaville.  I thought I would see how the bay looked once I got out there.  It was fairly calm with some breeze and waves out of the north, but doable.  I was going against the tide all day today.  I guess it is the luck of the Irish. Fighting tides, so my speed was in the low to mid 7 mph most of the trip.  Not to worry though, as I was still going faster than any sailboat I’ve had.

About 2:30, the winds started dropping more and the water flattened out, so on to Deltaville.  The rest of the trip was easy and without issues. I arrived and dropped the hook right off of Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  It is a familiar anchorage as I have been here many times.  

I haven’t figured out what is for dinner.  I poured myself a victory drink one the anchor was set and am relaxing for the rest of the evening.  The first day of my big trip is a success.

June 2, 2019 – Deltaville to Solomons Island

Looking at weather, north winds have been predicted for the next two days, so Solomons was the selected destination.  Originally, I thought of going to Pocomoke City or Chrisfield, but ultimately decided to head to Solomons.  The trip itself was quite uneventful with some moderate chop on the water with SW winds nearing 15 mph, and eventually moderating.  The boat and autopilot handled everything nicely and the ride was bouncy but not unbearable.

One of the most interesting parts of the trip was watching the ship traffic jam near Smith Point Light. A tug with a barge on a string, came around the light house and had a south bound freighter attempting to pass him while a north bound freighter was also approaching.  I was running along the inside the main channel but as I saw all this traffic heading my way, I veered out of the channel and out of the way. 

Tugboat with Barge on a String and Freighter passing

As you can seem I am a good way off and not at risk of a collision.

The rest of the trip to Solomons was uneventful and it was enjoyable to see quite a few sailboats out on the water enjoying a Sunday of good sailing.

Once arriving at the anchorage in Solomons, after I determined a good spot to drop the hook, low and behold I see my favorite old sailboat, Soodletime, now Morning Light. I have not seen that sailboat in quite a few years.  She looks great and the owners have done many nice improvements.  Such as Stackpack, new dodger and bimini and solar panels to name a few.

Dickerson 37 (My old boat)

I managed to catch up to them later on in the day and they invited me aboard to talk of boating adventures.  They still love the boat but are hinting at trawlers.  They are both in their 70’s.

After meeting with them for a nice talk, I headed over to Imagine, Mike and Karen’s boat.  They are once again at Washburns getting teak work done. It is warranty work from last year, so it looks like they may be here for a week or two.  As it turned out, it was Mike’s birthday so we went out to dinner at Boomerangs.  It was a nice local restaurant that had about anything one could want.  I was tempted to have a crab cake, but chose their creamy she-crab soup and a burger.  It was all delicious.  A chocolate Sunday was provided and the whole restaurant sang happy birthday.  That’s what small town folk do.

Once dinner was over, we could see a storm approaching, so off we went back to the marina. It was a good thing too.  The winds started howling just as I was running the dinghy back to the boat and saw the anchor was dragging.  As quickly as I could, I got the dinghy in the davits and started the motor and GPS. Luckily, I was being blown towards the channel and not on another vessel.   It took a bit of effort to grind up the anchor as the wind was blowing the bow down faster than the stern, but eventually it was out of the water and underway to re-anchor.  

That done, and I thought the excitement was over for the night, but that was not to be.  About 10:30pm another storm rolled through.  A very loud crack of lightening woke me up and I leapt out of bed to check my spot and of course, I was dragging anchor again. This time getting close to a New Zealander boat.  Luckily the anchor bit in and stopped the boat before we bumped in the night.  This time, I could take a bit of time to decide what I needed to do, so after gathering up my wits, started the engine, pulled the anchor up and moved quite a bit forward.  I dropped anchor right in the middle of the creek.  I figured no one would be out on boats this time of night and I’d be alright.,

The rest of the evening was peaceful and I eventually fell back asleep until 5:30. The morning temps were a cool 62 degrees which was refreshing after the 90+ temps we have had so far.  I thought about re-anchoring off to the side, but no one has given me an evil eye and the anchor has been holding, so for now here I am and here I will be.  

A Deadrise departing Solomons Island

June 3, 2019 – Lay day in Solomons

The wind was forecasted to blow 15-20 mph from the north east with 2-4-foot seas.  Not my kind of weather and the harbor was as calm as can be, so here I stayed.  Mike and Karen wound up having their boat hauled for some rub rail repairs.  It was unexpected so their departure is delayed for a few days.  I also spoke with Ken, the owner of the Dickerson.  It was nice catching up to him more.  They had planned on departing today, but wanted to buy some more first aid stuff for his leg and wound up staying the day.  He and Maggie eventually came over for a tour of Hesperus. They are just beginning to toy with the idea of going to the dark side.  Maybe in a few more years.

Other than that, it was a quiet day.  I did not even get off the boat.  It was my first day working remotely and that went well.  A couple emails and a phone conversation were about it as far as work interactions.  The rest of the work day was reviewing test procedures.  So exciting.

It was breezy in the harbor, but with flat water very comfortable.  The forecast was for the winds to drop along with the temperatures. 52 degree low?  Hard to believe it was in the upper 90s a week ago.  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was the entertainment last night and then bed time.

June 4, 2019

With a forecast of light winds from the NE, I decided to move on to Oxford, MD.  Oxford is a quaint little town and also has a very sheltered harbor.  I got underway a little after 10, once I finished up my work stuff and got underway. The bay was quite calm so it was an enjoyable day to be on the water.  The anchorage in the town harbor was empty, so no problem fitting in.  A few boats cruise by now and then, but it should be a quiet night.  No pictures today as everything was always far away.  The water way was quite busy with sailboats travelling north and south so no sleeping at the helm today.