Sailing, Sailing Over The Bounding Chesapeake!

SHIP'S LOG:

Current Location:37'24.898N/ 076'20.909W

According to the boys and girls at NOAA, it was to best than an ideal day. well, true enough, it wasn't "ideal," but it surely came close. It started off cold and blustery for the run out the Elizabeth River to the Chesapeake, but once past Old Fort Comfort and around Thimble Shoal Light, the sun broke out, the waters smoothed and the wind was on the the port beam and I was sailing!!!!!!!

I was able to do about 20 miles before the wind went light. It was the best days since the one when I headed north from Fort Pierce low these many weeks ago. What a joy. And on top of that I had deep water everywhere and little traffic and ABISHAG basically took the bone in her teeth and sailed herself. So much better than in"the Ditch!"It was so pleasant that the run from Thimble Shoals to Mobjack seemed to pass in an instant.

I got a look at some type of new Navy craft. She had a weird paint scheme that made it hard to really see her makeup and in that it was an experimental craft too much interest was discouraged. But if we ever have a need for a boat that can go round and round in circles and do tight figure 8's, we've got one in the cupboard. They asked me to get out of their way and identified the boat as "Stiletto."

I had my first encounters with the infamous Chesapeake Bay Crab Pots. They were not scattered around but seemed to be concentrated in large herds. Weaving through them under sail was a great deal on interesting fun. while there were crab pots in the ICW, they had not the numbers that I have already seen here. It is going to be one of those things I will have to keep an eye on.

Sailing in the Chesapeake is wildly different than the ICW. Just the distance between marks and the shores gives me a whole new perspective that makes even powerboats tolerable. It can be a little nerve racking. Charts of a large enough scale to show a whole days trip would be too short of detail to be really useful . I kept wondering if I was going the right way, fearing I might get lost. And unlike the ICW, there aren't a lot of "creeks" close at hand to pull into for the night. Ah, but the sailing makes it all worth while.

I'll be heading up to Little Bay tomorrow and then? Who knows and who cares?
I ended the day in the East River off Mobjack Bay. For the inquisitive, it is between the York and the Rappahannock Rivers. It is a nice little spot, unchanged since I was here last fall. Peaceful and quiet and bug free.