Day 116- Deltaville, VA

We, and about 50 other boats, are waiting for a good weather window for the passage.  We listen to weather sources on the single side band radio every couple of hours and search internet sites for the latest information.  Here are a few snapshots of what we are currently tracking.  As can be seen Tropical Storm Sean lies directly along our path (blue).

Other than watching the weather we are keeping busy with never ending boat projects.  Pablo has reached the bottom of his list, ie. his least favorite projects, like rebuilding the head (the toilet).  Pablo has Sterling working hard on splicing, re-embedding cleats and numerous other tasks.  I'm going nuts watching all the "passage" food getting eaten as we sit here and wait.  Its the idea more than anything, I can always run to the store to replenish before we leave.  A nicer distraction has been visiting with cruiser friends.

Remi supervising the head rebuild

Visiting Matty and Sapphire from sv Squander (we spent hurricane Irene with them in Maine)

Day 114- Deltaville, VA

We have prepped the boat, picked up Sterling and now just waiting for a good weather window to depart for the Caribbean.  We are getting a bit antsy but it has been is nice to have everything ready and now take a little time to relax.

We decided it was time for a fieldtrip and visited the Jamestown Settlement.  It was fitting on a couple of  levels.  Mia is studying it in her History course and the exhibits on the ships that brought the settlers to Jamestown made a nice comparison to our journey. 

 During our passage we will be checking in daily on a short wave radio Net known as Doo-Dah Net.  You can hear the audio of our daily check-ins here  (then the select Cruiseheimers' Net and  then select the DoDah Net by date).  Note that this is not the most riveting way to spend time.  It involves listening to a litany of boats checking in surrounded by a lot of static.

 sv Susan Constant at Jamestown settlement

The latest in amour fashion

Fall has arrived, time to head south!

Uncle Sterl teaching the kids "Caca de Vaca"

Day 111- Deltaville, VA

I think we've gotten over the hump.  When preparing to depart there always seems to be a period of time during which we're not sure it will all come together.  The water maker was a complex installation and required Pablo to access many fairy inaccessible parts of the boat.  This is disruptive to living on the boat.  There is no extra space to put things temporarily while accessing areas under storage areas.  Pablo and I have been sleeping in sleeping bags where ever there is room at bed time.  Now that most of the boat is put back together I've started provisioning with food.  This requires pulling everything out and trying to put it away in some organized manner.  Ideally in a way that I can remember and find ingredients when I need them.  I've started taking photos which helps since my memory has failed me more than once.

Tentatively the weather looks good for a Sunday or Monday departure for our non stop offshore passage to the Caribbean.  The passage is about 1500 miles and will take us about 2 weeks. The time frame is completely dependant on weather.  We are checking in with the Salty Dog Rally, a loosely organized group of boats transiting from the Chesapeake to the Caribbean.  We'll communicate by short wave radio with the group daily and compare notes on weather conditions and our experiences.    I'm in the process of making meals for the first 4 days or so.  We'll cross the Gulf Stream around day 2, where currents cause unusual conditions which can be unpleasant.  And I've heard from more experienced cruisers that it usually takes about 3 days to settle into any long passage.  The pre-prepared meals will hopefully make the transition easier.  With Pablo's brother, Sterling, to help we'll have three people for the night watches which is great for more sleep, among other things.  We're expecting cold conditions for the first 3-4 days and then hopefully more tropical air.  I am desperately looking for our long johns.  I know they are in some crevice on the boat but I didn't take a picture when I put them there... 
Planning a passage to the Caribbean from the East Coast is a little bit of a juggling act.  You have to wait until the end of the hurricane season but want to leave as soon as possible since it gets cold quickly and nor' easters become more prevalent along the coast.

The Deltaville Marine Museum put on a great Halloween Bash. Deltaville is very rural and not ideal for trick or treating so the businesses in town put on an event with candy and a haunted trail through the woods. We all had a blast. See below for photos.
There are many cruisers here but unfortunately no other families. The girls have made friends with a local girl and wait at the bus stop after school for her to come home.

Note the serious faces in the misty haunted house

The message:  "Don't Play in the Street"!

Day 105- Deltaville, VA

We really enjoy hearing from everyone so don't forget to write once in a while.  I think I've fixed the problem with comments, let me know if otherwise. Even Pat the Cat can leave comments now!  After hearing about first snow back home, we are appreciating the weather here on the Chesapeake.  The days are gorgeous, 60-70's F but the nights are starting to cool down.  We have been turning the heat on in the morning to help with the chill.  The boat warms up fast, as usually we are peeling off layers within half an hour. 

We spent two nights in beautiful Tipers Creek up the Great Wicomico River on the Western shore of the Chespaeake.  We wouldn't of known to explore Tipers Creek had we not met now great friends, on sv Chanticleer in Maine. They generously shared their dock on a beautiful secluded creek, their house and time with us.  I'm guessing the Chesapeake has many secret gems like this. The chart for Tipers reads fairly shallow and we wouldn't of considered it (even with our new philosophy of "no worries, we still have a couple of inches of water under us") but with local knowledge had no issues.
Ironically on the way out, after navigating past the tricky inlet to Tipers Creek, Pablo was admiring the beautiful scenery and sunrise a little too much, cut a corner and we bumped the bottom where the charts very clearly predicted we would!

We have now settled into Deltaville, a small town with many marine services (not much else though), to get our last boat projects done before leaving the US.  Pablo has been installing a water maker (desalinator) for the past week.  This will allow us to spend more time in secluded areas, not to have to pay for water, nor worry about quality of water.  It will allow us more showers, which is especially nice after swimming in salt water.  Pablo is also finalizing our liferaft and solar panel install. 

Deltaville Marina is a great place for us to hang out.  The pool and swings are popular with the kids.  The facilities are clean and well cared for.  Everyone here is a cruiser with an interesting story.  Many Europeans and Canadians; most are preparing for a passage, like us. 

Pablo's brother Sterling arrives on Nov 5th.  He will come along for the passage to the Caribbean. Pablo has started studying the weather and we plan to leave during for first good weather window after the 5th.  Will fill in the details regarding the passage once it is a little closer.

Entrance to Tipers Creek

Tipers Creek

Pablo's makeshift workbench

Cool frog at the pool

Day 95-Reedville,VA

After patiently waiting for the tide to come up we left Tangier without incident.  We had a beautiful late afternoon sail across the Chesapeake to Reedville.   Cockrell Creek, the entrance to Reedville, is the home of the menhaden fishing fleet and processing plant.  I read that menhaden are used for fish oil, meal and fertilizer which is made into animal feed, paint and cosmetics.  The smell is staggering.  I wasn’t sure we could stay.  Luckily we found a beautiful anchorage a little upwind of it. 
We’ve come across several uncharted obstacles as we’ve sailed in the Chesapeake.  They are a bunch (hundreds) of sticks protruding in 30-40 feet of water, about ½-1 mile off a shore.  See photo below.  It must have something to do with the fishing industry.  Luckily we’ve spotted them and changed course but in low light or at night they could be a hazard.  Don’t understand why they are not on charts.
We plan to move further up the Great Wicomico River this afternoon to visit fellow cruisers we met in Maine.

Life in Tangier

Another Tangier scene

A beautiful beach on Tangier

Beach fort building, ie Industrial Arts class

Reedville fish processing plant, smell it in MA?

Hazards in water

Day 94-Tangier Island, VA

Places like Tangier are what we look forward to most on this trip.  This is a unique and genuine place.  Tangier is an old watermans (crabbing and oystering) community off the Eastern Shore of Virginia.  The island and culture is literally slipping away. More than 9 acres per year are lost to the Bay due to erosion and sinking  and  the state of Virginia is no longer giving out crabbing licenses so families are forced to move away.  Tangier is known for a unique old-world dialect with roots that go back to the original British settlers.  We heard it in the local grocery store and couldn’t understand a word.  In Solomons we started hearing the twang in speech and southern mannerisms (like ma’am, sir) but here there is no doubt we’re in the South.  Everything seems slower, movement, speech…even the animals aren’t in a hurry.  The number of cats, far outnumbers the human population of around 500.  The girls enjoyed petting them.  Pablo wasn’t so enthusiastic when they started jumping on the boat boat and the dockmaster started offering "three or four" to the girls.

The entrance to Tangier is shallow and even though we were told that there was plenty of water we touched the bottom.  We’re now waiting for high tide and crossing our fingers that we’ll be able to make it out without a tow. But couldn't ask for a better place to wait out a tide!

Click here for an article about Tangier.  We found the place and actual characters just as described.

Borealis at Parks Marina, Tangier

Crab chairs at the local museum

One of the many cats

Most work boats left before 4am

Day 92-Solomons, MD

The Solomons area has been a wonderful place to explore.  The Calvert Marine Museum, of local paleontology, marine science and maritime history, was a fantastic find.  The staff was surprisingly knowledgeable and engaged the kids (and adults) for hours.  The hands on exhibits were very well done.    We spent a lot of time learning about the life cycle of skates and manta rays, the numerous fossils found in the Calvert Cliffs, and funny fish that like to squeeze in and hide in oyster shells.  “The Calvert Cliffs are known around the world for preserving prehistoric seashells, sharks teeth, and fossilized remains of dolphins and whales”.  Trust me, it really was fascinating, well done and an unexpected experience given we just visited the Smithsonian museums less than a week ago.

We spent time visiting with cruisers we’ve met throughout our trip and met a few new ones.   Really enjoying meeting new people and learning about their experiences.  The girls tried their hand at crabbing.  The line method seemed to work better than our trap.  We didn’t catch enough for even an appetizer but learned a lot in the process.  It seems Chesapeake crabs have better eye sight and are more aggressive than those we caught in Maine.  We plan keep trying until we perfect our technique.  Tomorrow morning we'll head further south.  Not sure what our destination is yet, will decide along the way.

Monkeying around

Mia taking the helm

Playing with other cruisers

Pt. Drum lighthouse

Skates and manta rays

Succesful crabbing