Little Bay-Southern Chesapeake

The blue dot is where we usually are, Jackson Creek. The point where you see the route 33 sign is Stingray Point and if you look north of the Rappahannick River  you'll see Little Bay. 

It's Friday, June 20, 2014 and we are on sailing on a beam reach in 15 knots our way back to Jackson Creek in Deltaville. I just made Jon and I peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (Did you ever notice how great they taste sometimes ?  Something like ice cold milk, even chocolate milk would go great with it). Anyway, I needed a little comfort food as the waves are about two feet and my stomach requested it. We just spent four days trying to beat the 95 degree heat in a great anchorage, Little Bay. Little Bay is about 15 miles north of Deltaville and brags of its great holding for anchors and undeveloped beaches. We discovered a nice little breeze blowing and as long as we got in the water every hour or so we were fine. One of the days we just got our cushions and sat on top of them in the water.  We had our drinks and would have eaten dinner there too if we could have figured out. Every night we ate cold cantaloupe and cold macaroni salad with our dinner. Life is good when you have cold side dishes in the heat.  There were a lot of stingrays that jumped and splashed around to let you know they were there. I hadn't realized the significance of the name Stingray Point off of Deltaville and the Antipoison Creek in Little Bay.  Apparently, John Smith had been stung by a stingray in Deltaville waters and thought he was dying. Indians came to his rescue and brought him to what is now known as Antipoison Creek where they treated his wounds and he got better.  There you have it.  We can both vouch for the abundance of stingrays..I even posted one we were tracking in our dingy  on Facebook. 

We hope to check out some more of this souther Chesapeake, even if it's just day sailing. We'll keep you posted. 

            Sailing into Little Bay

First you have to navigate around this abandoned fish trap.  

 We dingyed over to get closer look at the beaches. 

Some structure that someone threw together. On active captain they call it a tiki bar...??

            Just relaxing

We found about a dozen swans in a cove when we were exploring. 

One morning all twelve of them came in flying low and honking..at first I thought I was hearing strange geese... It was just beautiful..I'd never seen swans fly like that. 

  Quicksilver at anchor in Little Bay

Can you feel the heat?

Just before a thunder storm came through. 

QUESTIONS: DICK & ANN

                           

We caught up with Dick and Ann in Deltaville as they were passing through and anchored at Jackson Creek.  We sat in the screened porch eating shrimp boiled in beer and Ann's homemade macaroni salad and fresh bread. Yes, she made the most delious crusty artisan bread on her boat. Yum!  As we talked late in the night..the wine and beer was a flowing. 

We knew Dick and Ann from Fair Haven when we still had our Cape Dory and they were sailing Greyhound, a Trimaran sailboat.  Ann introduced us to some good music we had never heard, David Grey. He is one of our favorites now. They  raced Greyhound all over the place.  That boat could hit 17 knots like nothing. They would trailer her races and to cruise. Then they moved on to Nati, 38ft Catamaran in 2012 and started cruising full time six years ago. They write a wonderful blog about their adventures to the Bahamas and back, check it out at www.svnati.blogspot.com.  This is one of the ones we read and continue to read...it helped us dream a little bigger. 

      Ann

         Dick

Q1.  How old were you when you decided you wanted to live on a boat?

 Ann: "40"

Dick: "35"

Q2.  What has been the most exciting thing that's happened since you been boating? 

Ann: "Cross the gulf stream coming onto the magic water of the Bahamas all of sudden the water colors changes from deep deep blue to green to turquoise   So gorgeous and it really is the magic water."

Dick: "My first spearing of a lobster. It was in the Exumas and I     was apprehensive that a shark would come by."

Q3.  Where is your favorite place that you traveled to...so far?  

Ann: "Ragged Islands, Bahamas. The remoteness of it. Crystal clear water.  The people that you do meet are fantastic, friendly, welcoming and independent not the norm."

Dick:  "The Ragged Islands.  No McDonalds or Burger King. It's all you and nobody else. All you have is what you bring with you."

Q4. What is the scarest thing or the hardest thing since you been boating?

  

Ann: "I would say when we were in St. Augustine and going into a fuel dock. As we maneuvered into the fuel dock we lost steering on the starboard engine.  Between the wind and strong current we got sucked into fishing pier so Nati laid against it. There was nothing we could do with the power from the other engine because it would push Nati further under the pier or would have backed our stern further back and possibly lost her mast.   I thought, oh shit!  It bent three stantions and scratched her side.  BoatUS had to put a bridle  broad side to Nati to pull us off."

Dick:  "Same. It was worse than the time we anchored for Hurricane  Sandy at slander creek off Pingo River."

Q5. What is one thing you really don't like to do but have to do since you've been living on a boat? 

Ann: "Go to land."

Dick:  "Repair for the float switch for the holding tank(toilet).  You can't see, you just have to feel around or see with a mirror."

Q6. What is an important relationship you made due to this lifestyle?  

Ann:  "Good friends and  meeting new friends."

Dick:  "none"

Q7. Name one thing that you miss from being a "landlubber"

Ann:  "Nothing."

Dick:  "Twin Trees Pizza in Syracuse."

Q8. What is your favorite boating swear word? (In honor of James Lipton)

Ann:  "we don't really swear much, probably-oh shit!"

Dick:  "awe shit!"

             Caught Nati leaving us to head north from Jackson Creek

The Power of The Sun: Solar Panels

We enjoy being at anchor so much. There is always a nice breeze (which will usually deter the bugs) and it is a little more private. One of things that is a little more challenging is power. You're not plugged in and you need to keep those batteries charged so you can have lights, charge your cell phone and laptop, run the fans and sailing instruments and most importantly start the boat engine. So we (meaning Jon) would haul out the generator fill it with gasoline, shut all the hatches and windows (so we wouldn't get fumes below) start the generator and listen to it drone on for the next hour or so.  And we couldn't leave or go any where while this process was taking place...this is every day...unless you ran the boat engine..still wear and tear on that and there is still the smell and noise and time issue.    We waited for ordering our solar panels so Jon could get an idea of how much energy we use over past ten months. (Also Jon likes to see how everybody else had done theirs and have t I m e (lots of time) to figure out how and where he was going to mount them...no Willy-nilly here. Well, it's done and fantastic.  By the time we are done with our coffee in the morning, the batteries are completely charged from the use of the night before. Amazing and it just continues to replenish all day!  Jon checks it about twenty times a day and feels the need to tell me how many amps the solar panels are putting out.   Another step in our process to be more self-suffient.           

Cutting the tubing for the supports 

       Supports all done....we actually lowered it to be a close to the bimini as possible. 

       Now time to figure out where to mount

       Now attach them to the solar panels 

Here we go

Check for sturdiness 

See, a little bit too high....dismount and take apart supports and cut down tubing. 

    Mount remote display

Run the wiring...he got better at not getting stuck.

Pretty professional looking

     Finished product....them babies are harnessing that power..solar power. 

Jon ordered the Bimmini kit from E-marine in Ft Lauderdale. They include the two panels, the wiring, the regulator and all the fittings to mount them. He just had to buy the tubing from defender to make the supports for the panels. The whole project costs us just under $2,000 and about five days of labor. Being our first time of doing anything like this, not to bad. 

Deltaville Summer

We've had several people ask us to update our blog..sorry took a week. We sat at Jackson Creek, Deltaville, VA ordering our solar panels and all that goes with that and looking around the boat at all the little maintence jobs we have to do. We need to change the engine oil, have the leaks in canvas fixed and have the boat hauled to strip the bottom. Long as it will be hauled we will get to do things like wax the hull. So as much as we wanted to get all the way up the coast, we think it would be smarter to make Deltaville our summer port. Did you know that it's only a five and half hour drive to NY from here.  Sailors rarely get to think in short hours to get that far, usually weeks. (I'm including waiting for weather windows). 

So we think we have it worked out. Jon's xboss and friend, Tommy offered to pick us up via his plane early in July. (I promise to take pictures of Jon's scared face). We will go to Utica to get Jon's van back on the road so we'll have road transportation when we need it. We will travel to NJ to stay with friends, Kelly and Lynda's house and visit Sara in NYC.  First of August we will head to North Bay for the Tucker Reunion and second week head to Utica to see Aaron and all our family and friends there, then head back to NJ for Kelly and Lynda's wedding. We should be back to Deltaville by first of September via road trip. 

Until then it will be project time.  We will probably do a project blog.    

In the meantime, we are still enjoying the adult and baby Osprey. Yesterday we heard and saw a young osprey learning to fly. They cried the whole time and flapped their wings a hundred times a minute. While the adult glided above him. So funny to see and hear them (pretty similar to a child learning to ride the bike for the first time.,,I imagine them saying "mom, mom, mom, I'm doing it!!! Look!! Look!! Oh here I go... Ah I'm gliding.. No I can't, wait, wait, wait, look!! I'm doing it."  So funny, 

Met this woman, Debra, in grocery store parking lot.  She rescued this poor little deer that was injured by side of the road. The wildlife agency couldn't get to her for several hours. She asked Jon and I to go inside to buy 2% milk and baby.bottle. 

   Pretty twighlight sky from our dingy

 One of the homes around our anchorage

Jackson Creek anchorage in Deltaville

Might be a little to close to the nest..time to go

Brandy-new bikes for marina. We use them to run into town. 

When it's a little to far to bike or we need a lot, we have use of the marina car. 

     Marina, pretty property