Silence!

 Hi all!

Happy to report that the storm is over! Calm and peaceful here in the swamp. Emily and I are going to stay here a couple more nights. She is working on writing assignments and we also hope to check out the visitors center and museum more thoroughly.

We did get a huge amount of rain. I had a straight sided bucket sitting in the cockpit that I emptied early on, after about 3 inches had fallen. This morning it had an additional 8 and a half inches in it. The wind was not as bad as tropical storm Michael that I went through 4 years ago with Tom Hickley. It might have gusted around 50. Michael hit 70 and was pretty bad. I can't imagine what the folks in Florida endured.

Happy to be here, safe and sound!

Best regards, Charlie

Deeper in the Swamp

 Hi everyone,

My friend Emily on my buddy boat and I traveled 17 miles further into the swamp yesterday and are tied up at the visitors center in North Carolina. Two other boats are here as well. Super friendly folks. The rain is heavy and every now and then a gust of wind makes it thru the forest fortress to remind us we are on boats. But this is a really safe, fantastic place to be for this storm. And my friend Will Patten was right about the duckweed on the canal. I had to clean the intake strainer a number of times during yesterdays transit. The engine never got hot but you could see a decreased flow out the exhaust. It was a simple matter to shut down the engine, pull the basket from the strainer, empty and clean it, restart and continue on. Since I was towing Emily alongside, she would steer while I did the strainer. Easy peasy! Took about 2 minutes.

Cheers. Charlie

Swamp

 Relief! Not sure if Ian is going to amount to anything, but if it does, I am in a super safe spot, the entrance to the Dismal Swamp Canal. There is a lock at either end of the canal, which raises you about 5 feet and removes the tide from the equation. I went thru that first lock and tied up at a free public bulkhead. A supermarket and other stores are a block or two away. Emily is behind me, but close, and might make the last locking in about 15 minutes time. If not, she'll have to anchor for the night and come thru in the morning.

After leaving Deltaville we had some really awesome sailing, but found out that White Seal is much faster than Teal, Emily's boat. Nothing wrong with Teal, but length generally translates into speed. Also, a heavier boat can punch thru the chop more effectively than a lighter one. And when the wind came around from the southwest, Emily suggested we go up the York River for the night. It had become evident that we would be making a nighttime entrance into Hampton Roads and that was a scary thought. So, we spent the night anchored in Poquoson Creek off the York River. Got up early yesterday morning and ran down the York, and then clawed our way against the tide down the Bay. I got within about a mile and watched my speed drop to near zero, along with the wind. Taking the easy way out, I hit the starter button on the diesel and motored into Hampton. A quick run up the creek and I was able to top off the diesel. Unfortunately, the anchorage nearby was full so I went back out to Old Point Comfort to use the anchorage there. Talking to Emily on the phone, I learned that she was about a mile away and unable to make progress against the ebb. We talked about the possibility of my towing her, but given the conditions we decided not to. Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but Teal has an electric motor with very limited power and range. So I anchored and was able to decompress a bit. After a couple of hours the ebb lessened, and Emily was able to sail right in and anchor. I felt a bit of a fraud, having caved in earlier and starting the diesel.

And then, today! I described in an earlier post, the madness around the Statue of Liberty in NYC. Norfolk is like that, squared. Only instead of annoying jetskiis, you are contending with aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and containerships. Crazy! For about 20 miles! So glad to be where I am now.

Best, Charlie

Hampton

 Hey everyone,

Emily was right and we took 2 days to get here. Her Tripp 29 is a much smaller boat and has a tough time close hauled in a chop. But no problem. Safe in Hampton and will pass thru Norfolk tomorrow. Will report more details when properly rested!

All the best, Charlie

Chap named Ian

 Hi folks ,

We are hoping to sail our two boats to Norfolk although Emily is convinced we can't make it. Only 50 miles but her boat is smaller. And we will be fighting the tide a good bit. A cold front with thunderstorms just passed thru and should set us up for westerly winds. And then we should be able to enter the Dismal Swamp the next day. It looks like weather will go downhill on Friday. Maybe just rain, maybe some wind also.

Cheers, Charlie

Chores

 It wasn't all chores! Emily and I went on a tour of the sail loft where she has done some marketing work. We rode bikes through the rural countryside to get there. The wind had died down to a reasonable 30 knots in the gusts so I was comfortable leaving the boat. Emily is tied up at a dock in front of a really choice house sitting on what is probably the nicest piece of real estate on the bay here. I had the use of a marina bike, having paid a very reasonable facilities fee for a week. I also have use of a courtesy car so we took that to the supermarket. After that I did an oil change on the engine, which is a real pain in the neck. It takes me a couple hours, which is crazy, but I haven't been able to speed it up. A motorized pump would speed it up for sure. Anyway, that is out of the way.

I feel a bit like a duck in a shooting gallery right now as the tropics heat up. Might leave for Hampton on Monday. We'll keep assessing the situation. This would actually be a very good place to weather a serious storm, in the marina actually. It is tucked in off this small bay and they have space way in the back. There are some other potential places nearby.

Cool weather tonight, down to around 48. It had been downright hot up till now.

Best, Charlie

Deltaville

 Yeah, I know. Supposed to be keeping a blog. It appears the Reedville post didn't go thru, so I just posted it now. But that is ancient history. I just had my third night here in Deltaville and I also had a night on Tangier Island.

A bit about Tangier. What a cool place. It's a small island in the middle of the Bay, and it supports a community of about 450 souls. Crab fishing is the main industry, along with a tiny bit of tourism. Tangier is a slice of America that no longer exists. It was really special going there. Leaving Reedville I had a nice breeze, and I could just see the top of the water tower on Tangier. The breeze died a bit and I slowly watched the island rise out of the sea. It seemed incredibly fragile and exposed. I reached the entrance, dropped the sails, and motored slowly in at dead low tide. The channel cuts all the way thru the island and makes a sort of crab boat thorofare. On one side, a line of fish shacks and docks, made for a quintessential working waterfront. The other side was similar, but snuggled right up against the streets of the town. The streets were very narrow, and mainly used by golf carts and pedestrians.

I had tied up at Parks Marina, and I was the only pleasure boat in town, although 3 other sailboats did come in late. I managed to find one of the owners, who was installing a new engine in a crabber, and paid him the docking fee of $35. Anchoring is not an option in the harbor. I spent the afternoon walking around, going to the museum, and eating crab cakes. Needless to say, the crab cakes were fabulous.

It was painful to leave early the next morning but the forecast was a bit worrisome, and I didn't want to get stuck in the marina for days while going thru dockage fees. So I continued on to Deltaville where I met up with my friend Emily Greenberg. I first attempted Jackson Creek, where I went aground right in the entrance. I had been going very slowly, so just backed off, said screw it, and motored around to Fishing Bay. Emily has her boat at a dock nearby and is wrapping up some work before heading to Oriental, NC. We are going to 'buddy' boat down to Elizabeth City thru the Dismal Swamp. Emily does a lot of freelance writing, including a number of recent articles in SAIL magazine.

There is a gale warning in effect for tonight and tomorrow, so I will be hunkered down. The high winds will be from the north and this is a great spot.

Best to all, Charlie