Mathews Yacht Club Stutts Creek VA USA

Fishing Bay at first light

Our 0830hrs departure from Fishing Bay, it would seem, was late by local standards; of the 29 yachts anchored the previous evening, many had thinned out well before we raised our anchor.

Looking across Fishing Bay towards the bridge entrance to Stutts Creek

But then we only had an 8½ mile passage planned to get us across the bay and into Stutts Creek.  The golden morning light and mirror like sea made for a glorious departure.

Gwynn Island Narrows

Three miles south of our overnight anchorage we picked up the channel markers and followed them around to the left to reveal the Gwynn Island Narrows swing bridge.

Our pilot book states that the swing bridge operates 24hrs a day and opens on demand, which seems to be an exceptional service but, sure enough, a quick radio call as we approached prompted the road traffic to be stopped and the bridge to swing into the open position for our transit.

We had planned our departure so that we would transiting the narrows close to high water to minimise any current flow.  There might have been a bit of current against us but nothing of significance, so the plan worked.

Once through the bridge we followed the channel around to the right…

The other entrance to Stutts Creek, from the main part of Chesapeake Bay, is too shallow for us in BV

…. and then passed the other entrance to Stutts Creek.  That entrance is from the main part of the Chesapeake Bay and looks like the logical approach.  However, a careful check on the soundings showed that it just wasn’t deep enough for us to get through with BV’s 2 metre draft.

Bill and Chris Burry visiting the anchorage in Miss Christine.  Neva and Glittera (with Jan-Olov hoisted up to the masthead) are anchored ahead and to the side of us

On our way up to the yacht club we found Neva at anchor, along with another yacht whose crew we had not yet met, Atsa.  We haven’t seen Ade and Sam (Neva) since we were in Jolly Harbour in Antigua in 2018 and so swung past to say hello.  After a quick chat we continued on towards the yacht club because we had been promised depths of 8ft off the club’s docks.  There might well have been good depths off the docks but on the way there we clipped the top of a mud bank and came to a squidging halt, so we reversed off and returned to the anchorage to join Neva and Atsa.  Almost as soon as we had dropped our anchor, Christina and Jan-Olov arrived on Glittera.  It was turning out to be a major reunion for us.  The yacht club dinner was being organised by the Deltaville and Mathews Port Officers, Bill and Chris Burry, and just before lunchtime they also visited us all in their runabout, Miss Christine.

Lunch at the Mathews Yacht Club

With so many boat crews to catch up with, it made sense to decamp to the yacht club for lunch.  That on its own was great fun but we still had the evening party to look forward to as well.

Twin Cove (Fleming 55 anchored to the right)

After a good lunch and lots of fun catching up with old friends and new, we returned to BV for what was left of the afternoon and found that we had been joined in the anchorage by George and Francis Sadler on MY Twin Cove.

The OCC Mathews Yacht Club dinner gathering

The evening event started with cocktails and then everyone was corralled onto the steps outside for a team photo before we lost the sunlight.

Once everyone was sat down, the commodore of Mathews Yacht Club welcomed us all and highlighted that this OCC dinner had been taking place at Mathews for many years and, he hoped, would continue for many years to come.  It certainly was a very hospitable venue and the food was excellent.

We shared our table with (L to R) Julie and Rick Palm, new member Ina from Papillon, Will and Martha Story (the previous Matthews and Deltaville Port Officers) and Kusuru , also from Papillon

We shared our table with a whole mix of characters, some of whom we had met before but it was also particularly nice to meet new members Ina and Kusuru on Papillon.  They are heading south too so hopefully we’ll see them again in sunnier climes.

Once we had eaten our fill, we were treated to an excellent after dinner presentation by Julie and Rick Palm and Russ and Laurie Owen.  Both couples have completed circumnavigations but around 20 years apart.  The presentation highlighted the similarities between their experiences despite the time difference between Julie and Rick’s circumnavigation in the 1990s and Russ and Laurie’s more recent adventure just a couple of years ago.  They all bubbled with enthusiasm and the message was clear: just get on with it!

After such a lovely evening it would have been nice to have a really lazy start in the morning but, as they say, “the tide waits for no man” and we needed to get back though the Gwynn Island swing bridge at about high water.

Aid and Sam on Neva sneaked away very early, closely followed by Lesley and Hartley on Atsa.  The morning light was, once again beautiful and Hartley very kindly passed on the spectacular photos that he took of Blue Velvet at anchor.

In comparison our 0845 departure was decadently lazy but we achieved the aim of a slack water passage through the narrows and also had plenty of water over the shallows too.

Mathews Yacht Club, Stutts Creek, Virginia, USA