Sunday we finally got out of the Solomons, and had a great day sailing down the bay, turning into a motorsailor late in the day, and finally getting the hook down in the Little Wicomico River at 6:30 PM, just after sunset. We had a great dinner, shower, and hung out in the cockpit, it was a beautiful evening, the kind that we went cruising for in first place.
Monday morning we got up to leave. The weather man had changed his tune, and it looked like we had a window to get to Tangier Island, so we made the jump, 3 hours of motoring in an absolutely flat sea. However, I am happy to report that Vita had her first encounter with the bottom, and came out unscathed. Coming in the inlet into the anchorage in the Little Wicomico was easy at high tide, but in the morning at low tide, not so much. There were so many fisherman in the mouth of the inlet that we were forced to go right down the middle of the channel instead of on the north side where the deeper water was. The depthsounder went to 2 ft, and Vita dragged her keel over the sand bar. At first I thought it was the current hitting us, but on reflection, it was pretty obvious, we found bottom. On the brightside, we didn't stick, and we now know that our depthsounder is out by approximately 1' 6".
Tangier Island has been on our bucket list for many years. And perhaps because of that, we ended up leaving a little disappointed. It is a beautiful piece of land, and the people were generally friendly, but I think that at this time of year the town starts to shut down and return to its simple roots. The tourists have all gone, and the residents are probably glad to see them leave for another season. Everything was closed, except one restaurant and the general store. We intended on going for dinner at the restaurant, but the lady decided to close at 4:00 pm that day, for no particular reason, it was just that time of year. And Milton, the gentleman who runs the Marina was a sweet 82 yr old, but he wouldn't take no for an answer, and insisted on doing everything his way. Which was fine, except docking and undocking a fishing boat with a big engine, is a lot different than doing it with a little under-powered sailboat. No damage was done, but both Serena and I prefer to do things our way, because we know how to handle our boat, and if we screw up, its our fault, no one else's. Other than that, it was nice to finally get to see the island. We walked everywhere, all 1.6 miles. Although, we are still hungering for the Tangier Island experience, but we may have to wait until next year to get it.
Tangier Island is definitely a unique community.
Their water comes from 10 wells, each over 1100 ft deep, according to Milton the Marina Owner. He says its deep enough that the crabs don't get in.
Here is the main drag, wide enough for one car.
And; this is a side street, wide enough for one golf cart.
Now this is a golf cart. Big wheels and made of aluminum because of the flooding. I want one!
Tangier Island welcoming committee. They had a serious feral cat problem for a long time, and then they had 3 veterinarians come over to spade and neuter them all. Over three hundred cats were done, and they clipped the left ear of every cat that was fixed, so they could tell the difference. Notice the pointy left ear on this cute little guy. Guess they didn't get em' all.
I still haven't identified this guy, but they were everywhere, hunting lord knows what in the marshes. But I got some neat video of it, here he is ready to pounce.
Serena bent over to pet one of the kittens, and before she knew it, they were everywhere. A gentleman said that we could have anyone of them we wanted except for the black and white one. For a minute I thought he was joking, as they were all black and white, but there was one in particular that was his. Unfortunately, and I am still unsure about this one; I had to be the voice of reason. Something not likely to be repeated anytime soon.
Tuesday morning began, apparently in our honor! Winds, twice as strong as forecasted, and coming from exactly where we wanted to go. But, because of our rather disappointing visit to Tangier, and the fear that we would get stuck here for days, we headed out. Besides that, the other snowbirds left, and nobody wants to be a wussey. We pounded into heavy wind and seas back across the bay from where we had come. In fact we were losing ground to the north because we couldn't point high enough, a Bayfield issue....
By the time we got to the west side of the Chesapeake Bay, the wind shifted to the west, and we had a great sail all the way down to Deltaville. Further than we had originally planned, but considering that winter seems to be chasing us down like a mad dog, not far enough.
Wednesday was a sit still day. The weather was crap, we were tired, and we hoped to get some provisioning done. In the afternoon the skies turned blue, so we headed to the grocery store. Ten minutes after landing the dinghy, we were offered a ride by a pair of ladies who happened to be going that way. We thought that was sweet and excepted the ride. From the time we arrived at the grocery store, and walked the 2 miles back to the dinghy, we were offered rides 6 more times. We almost had to beat off the good samaritans with a stick. People turned around on the highway, and came to offer us rides. People offered to wait while we shopped in the hardware store, to give us a ride back. Even when we were less than a 1/2 mile from the dinghy we were still getting offers. This town lacked a laundromat, propane refill, and the pump out was broken at the local marina, but the people were the most friendly we have met since we left Canada. Their excuse, they are all sailors, and they understand; we love sailors, although we are probably a bit biased.
In Deltaville we also got to meet a couple of the cruisers in the anchorage. Had sundowners in the cockpit of Pinnacle, a 38' Catalina, home to a couple of Canadians from Montreal. Rob and Ginette. Rob was retired military, and had spent some time in Trenton where he learned to sail from fellow CFBTYC member John Seden, one of the pillars of our yacht club. It's a small world...
Today started rough, but the sailing was good for about 3 hours until it wasn't anymore. Luckily it was short day, and we settled way up in Horn Harbour. Its a place that only allows shallow draft boats to enter, as the water is somewhat thin. I saw less than 5' on the way in, and the tide was at about 3/4, which means I'll have to be careful going out in the morning at low tide.
I do apologize for the delay in getting out this post, or the last one, or the.... you get the picture. Ironically we tend to get internet in the non-populated places, and then suffer without, or with bad service in the more populated places, go figure. The really unfortunate part, is that when we are in a beautiful secluded place, its hard to find the motivation to write a blog entry, because there are just better things to be doing!
Until the next time.....
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