Leaving Solomons, the forecast was for E5-10 but the reality was ENE20+, so "Cheers!" to good breeze but "Jeers!" to spilling my coffee before I got the 2nd reef in.
The water is alive with marinelife activity right now: dolphins swimming in Mill Creek, fish snapping and popping at the water's surface all night long, vibrant SAV, and crabs swimming south.
I'm grateful to have a comfortable and capable boat that is carrying me around this beautiful Bay.
The wind was strong from the northeast, and we wanted to sail north, so...back to anchor in Mill Creek for the night. Boat ride, boat ride!
In the afternoon, I finally finished a painting I started on 8/27. This was my 3rd one ever and a real challenge to my beginner skills. Whew!
A short trip from where we were anchored in Mill Creek to the dock at Zahnisers - ya gotta do the laundry and get groceries some time!
Awesome fast ride to Solomons! Anchored in Mill Creek, smiling, exhausted.
Morning dinghy sailing fun, a walk around the community, and back down the river to Antipoison Creek in company with Dave and Judy who are heading north for the Boat Show.
91/72; SW15-20>25, fading to 0-5 by 2pm, HOT!
Dobbs and I generally like a challenge and beating up the Rappahannock offered a good one. What started out as plenty of wind dwindled to a flat calm near the bridge and we motored the rest of the way to Urbanna, arriving around 4pm. Our friends Dave and Judy were there, aboard their TPI/Lagoon 42 catamaran Sylvester. They invited us to join them for dinner aboard and we had lots of fun catching up and sharing stories. It rained heavily through the night.
The Corner Bakery in Onancock still serves up the freshest donuts starting at 7:30am. Fueled on sugar, we were ready to cross the Bay.
With wind SW10-15 with gusts to 20, we sailed on a port tack the whole way. What started as 1st reef reef main and full jib became 2nd reef in both, and then decreased to even less jib to finish. Dolphins greeted us at lunch time, southwest of Tangier Sound. Conditions were rolly north of Windmill Point where we cracked off a bit to head into Antipoison Creek. We anchored outside the channel, adjacent to a sandy, grassy shore, the air fragrant with pine straw. The water was perfect for swimming.
Sailed to almost parallel with Tangier on W5-10 until the breeze faded, then motored to Onancock. One other boat (a pretty, old ketch) was anchored when we arrived, a trawler came in later on. Launched Agility and scootered to the grocery store. Lots of old houses for sale, half of Market Street boarded up. Change.
Dobbs and I celebrated Labor Day weekend in Deal Island. Festivities commenced with a parade Sunday afternoon, followed by a car show and skipjack viewing with food and craft vendors. From the beach, we watched Kathryn set sail and two others arrive under sail.
The 67th Annual Skipjack Race was held on Monday. For us, it was a "lifetime" event, with about 15 skipjacks racing. Watching the start, mark rounding, and the handling of well-sailed boats was exciting. Ida May led the fleet, with Messenger close behind, then Somerset and Rebecca T. Ruark. These last two had a neck-and-neck finish, with Somerset pulling ahead in the final minutes of the race. Racing wrapped up around noon and we sailed the 16nm to Crisfield.