End of Day 10 - Caribbean towards Chesapeake

These Blog entries are edited versions of the messages we sent back as we completed the passage. They were sent by radio using a laptop that controls a modem and the HF/SSB radio, using the SailMail system. We sent the messages daily to Charlotte and she then forwarded them on to a list of family members.

1300 (AST, GMT-4) 16 May 2018

Dear All,

We are finally here.  Here is Deltaville, billed as the sailing centre for Richmond VA.  It's a small bay tucked miles up in Chesapeake Bay and we picked it because it looked like a beautiful place to spend a few days [Ed: and, on a more prosaic note, these is a large West Marine chandlery, laundry, and food shops close by.]

We managed to get ourselves into Chesapeake without being run down by any of the US Navy aircraft carriers or their support ships who were exercising in the area, nor did we bump into any of the many freighters heading in and out of the 2 entrances into the bay.

Approaching Chesapeake tunnel bridge

It then took what seemed an age to get to Deltaville, but then it was another 30 miles to go after the Chesapeake tunnel bridge. We got an arrival welcome from some dolphins….

Wolf Trap Light (left) and anchored ships awaiting orders

… and passed a multitude of ships riding high and anchored in the shallow water of Chesapeake, awaiting orders. We too needed to take care as there are lots of shoal banks we could have run aground on. Wolf Trap Light was a useful marker to avoid the shallows inshore of it.

Our anchorage was behind Stove Point (R) though a winding channel

As we started to final couple of miles the heavens opened. Reduced visibility from the rain didn’t help in navigating our way through the windy entrance channel. But we could see clearly enough to spot the nice houses on Stove Point.

Entering Fishing Bay where we eventually anchored

We dropped anchor at 1300hrs having arrived in the rain, so not the best showing of the place, plus it is very quiet because it is barely the beginning of the sailing season here. It is going to be interesting exploring ashore but from what we have read we should be able to easily find the essentials very quickly.  Enjoy the backlog of blog posts when we get to a suitably large and fast internet connection.

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:
Position at midday 16 May: N37 31 W76 16
Position at 1300 16 May: N37 32 W76 20
Midday to midday distance: 156.3 nautical miles
Total miles covered: 1325 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go: Zero Hurrah!!!

End of Day 10 - Caribbean towards Chesapeake