0800: All was supremely calm as we entered the bay
this morn; no sign of the previous days
winds or seas! We had read about this
little town of Deltaville, VA a couple days before and decided to make this our
next stop. The town is a small peninsula
sticking out of the mainland into the bay:
at its point, it was said Capt John Smith was horribly wounded from a
stingray, and from that point on this area was known as StingRay point, in case
you wanted a quick history fact.
We had scoped
out some reviews from active captain, as well as where good anchorages
were. The south side of the peninsula called
Jackson Creek had create holding, good protection, and was located outside a
marina where, for a fee, you can use their facilities. This sounded good to us..but when looking at
the charts, sounding depths of 1-3 ft outside the creek make it seem there is
NO way we could even attempt to get into this place. Many reviews on active captian said to follow
the daymarkers exactly, even if it seems you are about to hit land! At one point, we came so close to land I could smell the baked chicken from one of the houses! ha. Once you clear the channel, the depth was fine! We did get to see some of these incredible sand bars exposed from the low tide, just off the main land on the south side...so once we were happy with our anchor, we blew up the dinghy, packed Salty, and rowed over.
 |
| sandbars! |
After the sandbars, we needed showers! We were able to row into a dinghy dock at the closest marina: they charged 10.00 a person for use of their facilities, including free bikes and curtousey car!!! We showered up, rowed the pups back ashore, and grabbed the bikes! The area isnt really a town (seeing a pattern here!) but was at least more condusive to bike riding! We pedaled about 4 miles to a grocer, just to get some basics (wine and beer) for the night, as we figured to use the car tomorrow.
That night, I used their really nice lounge to update some stuff online, while mike and salt sat in the covered screen house drinking and talking with other boaters. He met a young couple who were in the process of finalizing the sale of a (new to them) 35' sailboat. They have never before sailed and had hiked/worked their way from Toronto! They said they worked a food truck this summer in NYC around the vicinty of 26th and 7th...which peaked my attention, as I worked RIGHT there! They were very vague about it tho (pretty sure they didnt actually do this in my opinion) and were planning to get this boat, sail to the Bahammas, and go sell to the anchored boats Thai meals...made from their boat, sold off their dinghy...Now, this seems like a good idea, dont get me wrong! The couple got this idea from being in Thailand and seeing all the local wives selling their food to the local fisherman/anchored boaters at many ports. BUT...yea, I really dont think this will work in the bahammas...particularly from a inventory stand point. Its hard enough to even get hummus like Sabra's down here, let alone Thai ingredients; pretty sure Bahamma's wont be stocking these items either...or just where to put all the inventory as well...with not refridgeration..or money to stay at a dock! Nonetheless, it was interesting talking to them and the other sailors!
09/29/2012 Deltaville, VA
Today is about restocking the boat, rivoting stuff I know! We borrowed the curtisy car (time limited to 1 hour), picked up some oil for the boat, and restocked as best we could at the one grocer! We learned our lesson in the first few weeks, so we only buy enough cold food to last no more than 3 days of meals, hence the constant grocer searching/visiting! The major restock for items like batteries, water, tp, towels, junk food, etc happen when we are fortunate enough to be near a Walmart...which hasnt happened since the Death By Bike in Sexy Fries :6
We went back to the sand bars after lunch...Salty was so excited to get back to the area, that she decided to jump ship a little early! We had our first man overboard! I saw/heard her fall out of the bow of the dinghy first, mike second...and he just kept rowing!!! Poor dog didnt even know what happened to her; she at first started swimming away from the boat, but then looked back at us, like "what? when did you get there, and I am here?" hahaha! I, being the kind person I am, reached way out over the dinghy (and the constant rowing of Mike) to grab her back in! It was bound to happen sometime! ha.
Crazy Puppy rolling in the sand (and mike's finger in the shot)
Stingray Point
so ashamed of the kiddy cart
09/29/2012: =>Hampton, VA
Up and off of
anchor by 0730! We tried to use the free
pump out at the marina, but it was broken (sad, cause we really need to pump
out, gross!!). Mike had planned out trip
from NJ down to the cheese, but once at the end…well, we would look into where
we wanted to do, how far, etc. Originally,
we both thought to stay/head for Newport News, VA…however, I noticed in the
guide a cute town called Hampton, just east of Newport News…it’s a small
college town with some cool little attractions, so we decided to head there
instead. Our morning was a bit rocky, as
we hit some swells (knocked my coffee pot
over, with all the grounds still in it…lovely!) The day was overcast and with partial rain
areas. We were both more than a little
wet, and freezing!
Today’s journey
was to be about 40 miles, so 8 hours give or take. We entered into the harbor
around 15:31, and just as I was taking down the sail, I hear Mike yell out: so
I quickly look back at him thinking major wave coming or something, but no! He
is pointing to just off our portside, hollering “dolphin!” I abandon the sail,
and hopped back into the cockpit to hopefully catch a glimpse as well…again,
off of port we see a fin break the water…a HUGE fin! Mike jokingly says “well, its either a dolphin
or a shark…so when you going back up there to get the sails down?” (har, har…ahole). So thinking they were done playing, I hop
back up, grab the mast, and hear huge splash hit the boat; seriously, these
dolphins were playing in our wake/swimming along side of us! And they were HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!! Ha.
Like unnervingly huge! We counted
at least 4 of them, which followed/jumped/FLIPPED for about 20 minutes just as
we rounded the last buoy into the major commercial area of Hampton. Even Salty was watching them! Pretty freaking amazing!
Our thought was
to anchor right outside the city docks in the heart of the downtown area;
however, upon seeing how small (and with
lovely old piles from a previous pier sticking up everywhere) thought
better of it, and grabbed a slip at the city dock. We did see our pirate ship friend at anchor
there though!
We ate dinner,
put the child down for the night, and headed out to nightlife at Hampton. It’s small in comparison to places like
Annapolis, but still had its charm! We
found a local brewery bar and got a couple drinks….maybe one too many, but was
fun to get out and enjoy a nightlife again!
09/30/2012: Hampton, VA
We had decided to stay and enjoy this little town last night, so up late for us: 0730! I had found a cute little café/coffee place just around the corner of the marina last night, so planned ongoing running with Salty, showering, then meeting Mike there for breakfast! Salty and I explored the more residential areas of the town; lots of old homes, little stores, random plaques/historical sites, etc. I dropped salty back off with Mike, grabbed my shower stuff, then meet him in front of the café: I could smell the coffee and bagels as I walked there after my shower…to say I was excited…well, its just not good enough!!! And they had whole wheat bagel with PB!!! I was in heaven! No, these are in no way comparable to some BK places (sigh. The Bagel Smith in Williamsburg…) but it was pretty darn good! I also found out there was a Target nearby: I think I already love this town J!
We walked around, waiting for the Virginia Air and Space museum to open at 12pm (this was for mike to geek out on)…I won’t lie, I was not really looking forward to this place, having nightmares of all those similar museums I was dragged to with my parents..and then Mike throughout the years, but the price was great at under 10 a person, and the bldg was kind of cool in itself…so…
When we got back
to the boat and let Salty out to run around (she was such a good puppy being inside the boat for that long), I
took a nap while mike biked to the gas station and filled up our reserve tank;
oddly enough, this was cheaper than us actually going to a marina in the
morning! I woke up to Mike still not
back from his expedition, I thought. I
got a bit concerned and hopped off the boat to look for him. He had befriended a couple of boaters down
the way from us: a 30’ cabin cruiser,
and a 45’ catamaran. I grabbed Salty and
we went over to say hello was well! Both
couples were super nice, and very informative!
The cabin cruiser offered to show mike some stuff at his nav station on
board, so I was left alone with the “wives”.
I could tell Salty had to go to the bathroom, as she was a bit restless,
but not wanting to leave my new friends (people
to talk too!!) I left her off her leash to work off some of the energy…and
then she pees right in between the 2 boats! And as if that isn’t embarrassing,
takes a rather large poo next to the catamaran, as I was trying to wash off the
pee! Sigh. Ha. The
ladies were amused, so I guess it was okay!
We took a walk
to the other side of the town; the campus of Hampton University. The university is very old, and parts of the
campus reflect that. Other parts/bldgs
are fairly modern.
I was able to
grab some wifi (and we stole some power
after the dock master’s office closed, shhh!) and finished off our night
updating the blog, from our cockpit..not a bad computer desk/location! Tomorrow brings the Dismal Swamp Canal for 2
days…not sure what to expect from such a jovial name…
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