Jackson Creek

At anchor in Jackson Creek!

Yesterday we left Dozier's Regatta Point around 2PM and sailed around Stingray Point to the Piankatank River. Approximately 12 nautical miles. We had around 6 knots of wind and were traveling 5 knots of speed. I guess cleaning and painting the boat bottom helped in more than one way. We had speed and I could hear the water trickling out the back from under the boat. We were beating into the wind and our boat never does well on that tack. We were heeled but not too much that I had to chase everything flying down below decks. It was very comfortable. In the distance we could see several boats with spinnakers flying. They were partaking in the Labor Day Regatta race sponsored by Fishing Bay Yacht Club. We arrived early in the afternoon to our anchorage in Jackson Creek just off the Piankatank River.

After a very comfortable sleep at anchor in this very protected spot we started our day with blueberry pancakes and cappuccino. After breakfast we took a dinghy ride into Fishing Bay Yacht Club. We have a membership to Capital Yacht Club in DC, this gave us reciprocal rights to use their club facilities and dinghy dock. It is an amazing club. The grounds are large with several buildings and an in ground swimming pool over looking Fishing Bay Harbor. They were very welcoming to us, true southern hospitality. After a tour and meeting the club manager we toured the creek by dinghy then returned  to our boat for lunch. It was a very warm day so we decided to return to the club for a dip in the pool and a shower. It felt good to let the water run for the length of my shower. When at anchor showering on the boat is short and sweet.

Tonight is a very warm evening but calm and still. Should be another quiet nights sleep. Winds and waves are supposed to be high on the bay tomorrow morning so we may stay put for the entire day or leave after they settle down.

Finally Finished Detailing Our Boat!

Saturday night we made it to the river leading up to St. Mary's Md. We anchored in the first creek on our right as we entered the river. It was a beautiful calm night, no rain in the forecast. As you can see by the picture of the rainbow rain did happen. It was a down pour over just the area we were anchored in. The picture below is of my phone with the weather map and as you can see the cell for rain was just over us. That was ok we enjoyed the rainbow.

Weather map picture on my phone!

Larry took this picture of me as we were sailing/motoring to Deltaville, Va, where we had the boat hauled for work to be done. We started out sailing until the wind died and then we had to resort to the engine power. You can see by the way I'm dressed it was a bit cool. We had the enclosure down and zipped up. We have been glad that at the last minute we decided to retrieve the enclosure out of our storage unit. Last year we were very sorry that we opted to not take it.

We have seen some interesting insects this trip. This is a moth hanging from the window at the coffee shop in Deltaville. It is very similar to the one we had clinging to our enclosure on an overnight in Florida several years ago.

We spent Sunday night at the fuel dock at Waldon's Marina. Monday they hauled us out for the work that needed to be done. We were power washed in the lift first. After we were secure in the jack stands, Larry and I used a product called on/off to clean all the scum and grime that had adhered to our hull up in the DC channel. The next step was to compound the bottom third of the hull that included the blue stripe and white stripe just above the water line. We then applied a coat of cleaner wax to the entire hull. Next a coat of liquid wax and last a coat of paste wax. Our arms felt like they wanted to fall off but we hope all of this will pay off and protect us from the DC channel scum. We had also installed the keel cooler for our refrigerator. This involved putting a thru hole in the bottom of the hull below the water line next to the keel. This seems to make for a nervous job. There is always a possibility for a leak after launching. 

This is the very first time we have paid to have someone else paint the bottom of out boat. We tend to do it ourselves. The painting is usually Larry's job and the waxing is usually my job. I don't think our arms could have taken any more. It sure was nice having help waxing the hull. I don't think I could have done that extensive of a job all by myself. Thank you Larry!

The picture is of us going back into the water on Wednesday afternoon. I took a video of the launch but am having trouble uploading it to the blog. For reasons that you can see we are not permitted to stay aboard during the process. Not that I would want to. I neglected to have my phone with me when we were hauled out or I would have uploaded a picture of how we looked when they hauled us out so you could compare the difference. It was pretty messy!

After we were put back in the water we took a dock at Dozier's Regatta Point Marina. Yea no leaks.  We spent the next two days cleaning the topsides and waxing the uprights, laundry, cleaning below decks, gathering some supplies and finally laundry. This is supposed to be vacation, I'd hate to see what work would be like.

This little tree frog was on the courtesy car at Dozier's Regatta Point Marina. I can't say I have ever seen one here in Deltaville.

While we were in Deltaville we did get to have some fun though. We met up with friends of ours, Chris and Lavinia and Barbara and Mike and had a great dinner on Wednesday night. We were able to catch up with some of our other friends too. Our visit to Deltaville is always too short and too busy with boat work to relax for very long.

Heading to the Bay!

It's been a long time between posts! I keep promising to be more consistent with posting. This time I'm not promising maybe I'll be better that way. At least I won't feel guilty. 

We left DC on the boat yesterday at 7am. It was overcast and threatened to rain on us. Finally in the afternoon the sky opened and showered us with light rain. We were glad we didn't listen to the weatherman and stay at the dock. He predicted thunderstorms. I'm sure he was right somewhere but not were we were. 

The picture is of last nights sunset. The clouds parted just long enough to show us a spectacular view. We were anchored in Port Tobacco River. The evening was mild and warmer than during the day. It made a difference when the boat wasn't in motion and we were tucked up along the shore out of the light breeze. 

This morning we had the anchor up and were moving by 7:30. We slept in, not as much prep to get under way at anchor as at the dock. No umbilical cords like electric cords, hoses, lines. Larry just has a lot of mud to rinse off the anchor and chain.  The sun is shining today and the air is cool and comfortable. We will go as far as the mouth of the river today. Our day will be a little shorter than yesterday.