Back Down the East Coast

Fleeton
Tuesday, October 22 - We pulled up the anchor at 7:45 a.m. and went a little further in on Mills Creek to a marina for a pumpout. This one was self-serve and with it being low tide I was able to easily get off the boat with the spring line onto the dock without jumping. Jumping gives me anxiety as I worry about jumping too far or not far enough and into the water! We were back in Chesapeake Bay by 8:30. The water was again very still and the wind came from our own movement. My lower back had been giving me trouble for the last several days and just as I thought it was getting better I got a spasms as I reached down and over the paddle board to retrieve a spring line. I could barely move the rest of the day and brought out the serious pain relievers! It’s a good thing that there was no wind as I would not have been able to work the jib lines. My back continued to have little spasms the rest of the day that would cause my knees to buckle a bit.
We anchored in Cockrell Creek next to a little town named Fleeton at 3:17pm. As we were in the process of anchoring a 2 seater plane flew over our boat, nearly hitting our mast as it descended to an unmarked grass airstrip. When a second plane followed it we brought the anchor up and moved enough to get out of their flight pattern, just as a 3rd plane came in to land, followed by a fourth. There was no indication of an airort on the charts or maps! The anchorage was very quiet and we were the only boat there. There was no public dock, or any dock at all, thus we stayed on the boat, made dinner and watched a movie.

Deltaville
Wednesday, October 23 - It was another calm morning with water as smooth as glass. We left at 8:23 a.m. with the current. The wind was just off our starboard bow and again we were making our own wind. I slept well the previous night, I imagine all the pain relievers contributed to that, my back still hurt but the spasms had stopped. We motored for 4 hours to Jackson Creek by Deltaville, VA. We had been here on the way up the coast for one night but did not get off the boat and wanted to explore the town this time. After lunch we got in the dinghy and went to the town dock. It was a fixed dock and high up from the water, making it a little hard to get on from the dinghy. As we walked we found nothing but country roads and homes. We walked for about a half mile and decided we had seen enough. We originally planned to stay 3 nights to explore the town, but after not finding anything remotely close to the dinghy dock we decided to leave a day early. We did learn from Reyann on Tenacious, who was anchored outside Jackson Creek, that for $25 a day a marina will let you use their amenities, including the loaner car. We didn’t have a great need for the amenities, and the marina was a long dinghy ride away, thus chose not to explore that option.

Thursday, October 24 - As predicted the wind picked up a good amount from the last few days, it was sunny and cool outside. If it hadn’t been so windy it would have been a good day to relax in the cockpit. Instead Kevin fiddled around down below and I completed my project of detail cleaning the last of the wood cabinet slotted doors. A rather slow day all in all.

Yorktown
Friday, October 25 - We started the morning with a hardy breakfast of eggs and biscuits with the grape jelly Deb made and the last of the Blueberry Bourbon Pecan jelly we bought in one of the Beauforts. We left 9:30 a.m. with calm waters in the anchorage but luckily the wind was stronger in the bay and we pulled out the jib, followed by the mainsail about an hour later. The wind was around 10 knots, 60 degrees off the port bow. The temperature was 56 degrees and I seemed to have become more acclimated to the cooler weather as I wore a fleece rather than my heavy jacket. Kevin was in shorts, flip flops and a long sleeve top over a t-shirt - brrrrr - though he did eventually put on a jacket. We entered the York River at 1:30pm, shortly after that we passed a Navy destroyer ship, an indication that we were close to Newport News. The wind had died and the temperature was in the mid-60’s. We anchored next to York River Yacht Haven, the marina we stayed at in May. Gary and Renee on En El Viento had their boat docked there and listed for sale. We met them for dinner at YROC and caught up with each other since going separate ways in Massachusetts.

Saturday, October 26 Tuesday ,October 29 - Gary and Renee, who now have a camper, drove us to Steve and Paula’s house Saturday morning. We were not able to get our car yet as we had to wait 24 hours after taking it out of storage mode with USAA. We went to St. George Brewery with Steve, Paula and Paula’s mom and sister in the afternoon and spent the night at Steve and Paula’s house.

Sunday - Kevin picked up our car from Rick’s house and we went to Walmart and came back to the boat where we collected items to put in storage. For dinner we went to Steve and Paula’s favorite Mexican restaurant, which is the closest Tex-Mex we’ve had since Texas. That night I watched the first few episodes of the new Outlander series on Starz with Paula, a channel we don’t have on the boat.

Monday - We went to our storage unit and exchanged items from the boat for new items, including pressure washer and warm clothes for Kevin. I did the opposite by bringing clothes I hadn’t worn from the boat and freeing up closet space. Back at the marina, Stephen and Mary Beth on Harmony were anchored here also; we met them in Tiverton, RI and they are Catalina 470 owners. We went to their boat at 5:00pm to discuss buddy boating as we continue south. Then we all went to use the community grill at the marina and shared oysters that Gary got from a waterman who had cleaned his boat. We also invited Mike and Alyce who are living on their Catamaran, Thick Chick, and friends of Harmony. Everyone brought appetizers and things to grill. We had Mahi fillets! After we were back from our oyster dinner Alyce called Kevin around 11:30pm because Mike had cut his foot open on their boat. Kevin went over to them with our first aid kit but she had already bandaged him up. He waited for the ambulance and helped them navigate to their boat, fortunately they were in a slip at the marina.

Tuesday - We planned for our 2 day transit to Beaufort, NC in the Atlantic Ocean. That afternoon I got a much needed hair cut and Kevin did some more provisioning. Early evening we met up with Gary and Renee to say goodbye then went to Steve and Paula’s for dinner and to leave our car with them.

Wednesday, October 30 - Friday November 1 - We spent Wednesday morning getting ready for our 2 night journey to Beaufort, NC; showers, meal prep and preparing the boat to dock for a pumpout and fill the water tank. We pulled the anchor at 10:38 and went to the fuel dock, while Kevin did the boat maintenance I took Pepper for one last walk. Harmony came to the fuel dock after us and we sailed around York River until they were finished. It was a great day for sailing, winds were around 10-15 knots coming off our beam and the sun was shining. Around 12:30 we headed toward Chesapeake Bay with Harmony, sailing on a broad reach at 4.5 knots. After we made the turn into Chesapeake Bay the wind picked up closer to 20 knots and we had a beam reach with 2-3 foot waves. We were able to maintain 6-7 knots, at one point going 8 knots and healing with the toe rail almost in the water. At 3:30pm we reefed both the sails and turned the motor on.
We motor-sailed through the night taking 3 hour shifts. As I was waking up for my 3 - 6 am shift I noticed the motor sounded unusual and hoped it was just the pitching of the boat causing the sound to go up and down. But no, Kevin confirmed it was surging up and down. He changed the fuel filter at 3:30 am and that solved the problem.
Thursday morning I talked to Christian about the great trip he had in Nashville for a bachelor party. He also visited with a friend from Pine Cove, and of course spent time with Grammy, Aunt Tracy and Uncle Erwin. By Thursday afternoon we were sailing around Cape Hatteras and another sailboat named Wild Oats joined us.
Later in the day the ocean waters became more turbulent causing the boat to both roll side to side and pitch up and down. As luck would have it I made a mistake with the toilet head that caused the motor to burn out. 😳It was bucket time for me. Luckily my time backpacking in the wilderness prepared me for this inconvenience. That night when I went down below to sleep before my night shift the bed was at an impossible angle from healing to be able to sleep. Thankfully after 30 minutes or so Kevin reefed the mainsail more to level the boat some. We were about 13 miles off shore and unfortunately the motion caused Kevin to get a bit seasick. By 2:00 a.m. Friday morning a fourth sailboat had joined us, Harvest Moon.
The waters continued to be rough and we reefed the sails yet again at 5:00 a.m. Friday morning . By 6:30 a.m. we had used up the fuel in the one tank and I went below to switch tanks, a new lesson for me. We arrived at Town Creek Marina in Beaufort, NC at 10:00 a.m. exhausted! We had planned to stay one night but with the head problem and bad weather forecasted we asked to stay a week.
For dinner we went to the restaurant at the marina and were joined by a past college of Kevin’s and his wife, Andy and Debra. Unfortunately I failed to get a photo.Læs mere