We’ve crossed the 38th Parallel….. and entered Virginia.
Before 0800 while the sun was still making its very brief debut for the day, we set out for another day on the Chesapeake Bay.
Once we left the protection of Solomons Island, we traversed a few more crab pot lines and turned South. We decided to let out the Genoa and see how it went. With winds estimated at 15 – 20 knots, we turned off the engine and SAILED, hand steering and averaging around 6 knots per hour.
With winds from the North/Northeast the wind and temperature was brisk, but still I thought I had over dressed for the day with thermal layer, turtleneck, fleece and foul weather jacket. I would later learn I couldn’t have been more wrong. I definitely got cold – darn that heater that should keep me warm in the cockpit!
We sailed for 4 hours until the wind decided to take a break, and we had a destination to get to. So we fired up the engine and motored for the last 2.5 hours of the 8 hour day culminating for 42.5 miles.
We opted to make the longer journey to Reedville, VA and this meant we crossed out of Latitude 38 and sailed into 37 — still heading South. We left Maryland and entered Virginia. No – there was no “Welcome to Virginia” sign to be seen on the water.
We arrived in Reedville and tied up to a dock/marina of a restaurant that was closed. An unfortunate aspect of coming south as late as we are….”off season” hours for restaurants which translates to “closed Monday through Thursday”. Oh well – instead we had a yummy nutritious meal aboard and are now hunkered down for the night.
A benefit of marina/dockside life is electricity which means we can fire up the reverse cycle air conditioner/heater to keep us warm overnight, since we have given up on the hydronic heater at this point.
Tomorrow’s destination is Deltaville, VA which should translate to a 5 hour journey with similar weather and wind forecast.
Nothing is ever completely plain sailing but from your views so far the heater is more a minor irritant than a major issue. Besides, you are heading south so, given time, the last thing you will need to worry about is keeping warm. Glad that the adventure is off to a good start although it would be nicer if there was more wind and less motor. Totally spoils the concept of “sailing” the seas. Our thoughts and best wishes travel with you on this journey of discovery across the waves. Far cry from the arid red centre of Australia!