We Made it to Portsmouth

After a lovely half-day of sailing on the bay yesterday, George calculated how much further to Deltavile, VA, our planned destination. At the time we were tacking back and forth past the Potomac River. According to his calculations, we still had 25 miles to go and it was already 2 pm. That would put us arriving in Deltaville after dark. Not a good idea when when going to an unfamiliar harbor.

So, we turned the motor on and headed for Little Bay, just north of the Rappahannock River. We had to dodge a few fish traps on the way in but we were safely anchored before dark. We got up before sunrise, raised the anchor and were motoring out of the harbor before dawn. There was just a tiny bit of light in the sky. George stood at the bow with a spotlight and watched for crab and fish traps. I tried to follow the convoluted course I had taken into the harbor.

Sunset in Little Harbor

Sunrise over the Chesapeake

 

 

We motored most of the day. Sometimes with the sails up and sometimes with the sails down. We did have wind most of the day but it was usually light and always on the nose. We didn't want to make the mistake of leisurely sailing as we had done the day before. We would have needed to allow more time for the trip if we expected to sail our way to Portsmouth.

The day was sunny and quite warm for late October. The best wind we had all day was when we were in the Elizabeth River. The river is not very wide and has numerous shipping terminals along the side. Three cargo ships, two tugboats and a dredging barge passed us going the opposite direction. We definitely would not have been comfortable sailing so close to all of that traffic.

We arrived at Ocean Yacht Marine Center in Portsmouth just before the office closed at 5 pm. We were able to fill the tank with diesel fuel before pulling into the slip. Now Breeze On can stay put until we leave for the Bahamas in a week.

We attended an Oktoberfest party on the dock in the evening and met a few folks in the rally. We spent most of our time chatting with a couple who are also going to Bahamas for the first time. Jean and I bonded over how nervous we are about the trip.

Tomorrow we will go through the safety check of Breeze On and wash the salt off of the boat. I will get to work making yet more changes to the enclosure panels and George will go through his own list. We both hope to get a good night's sleep.

 

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