Days 253 and 254 - The Wolf Trap — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 59, we actually had miles cruised today! fuel purchased $0, slip fee $89, daily high temperature 77°f

We used our last day in Portsmouth to stock up on supplies for our cruise up the Chesapeake. The nearby Walmart superstore provided to all our needs including a full compliment of Walmartians. One item that we needed to replace was our electric water kettle. The old one died about a month ago. That is how we boiled our water for coffee and tea. We were forced to boil water in a pan. Imagine having to boil water in a pan on an electric stove. All is right with the world once again. The new electric water kettle is highly efficient and can boil two cups of water in less than one minute. Hazzah!

We are underway after a 27 day stay in Norfolk / Portsmouth, Virginia. The port of Norfolk has dozens of navy ships including aircraft carriers, destroyers, cargo ships and a hospital ship. As we were cruising north up the harbor we heard a warship warn a pleasure craft to stay at least 500 yards away. We were exiting the James River into Chesapeake Bay as warship 96 was moving towards us in the ship channel. She was all the way over on our side of the channel. If I stayed in the channel I would be very close. I chose to exit the channel and keep my distance. There was 20 feet of water outside the channel so no worries.

080110-N-0780F-001 Souda Bay, Crete, Greece (Jan. 10, 2008) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) arrives at the Marathi NATO Pier Facility in Souda harbor for a routine port visit. Bainbridge departed her homep… — 080110-N-0780F-001 Souda Bay, Crete, Greece (Jan. 10, 2008) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) arrives at the Marathi NATO Pier Facility in Souda harbor for a routine port visit. Bainbridge departed her homeport of Norfolk, VA in September and is currently on a regularly scheduled six month deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Paul Farley

USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the fifth ship to carry that name, and the 46th destroyer of a planned 75-ship class. Bainbridge is named in honor of Commodore William Bainbridge, who as commander of the frigate USS Constitution distinguished himself in the War of 1812 when he and his crew captured HMS Java, a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. As I said, we kept clear.

The conditions are very flat for our first cruise in almost a month. It was overcast with almost no wind. When we hit the throttles the turbos let out a fearsome whine as we were instantly cruising at 28 mph. The fog set in just as we hit cruising speed so we fired up the radar for the first time since November when we crossed the Gulf of Mexico. The fog lifted after 10 minutes.

One of the few features we saw along our course was the Wolf Trap lighthouse. Not much to see going up the middle of the Chesapeake. It is very wide.

The photo we took today.

The photo we wish we could have taken. The blue sky!

Wolf Trap Shoal juts into the bay from Winter Harbor, a point a few miles north of Mobjack Bay and the York River. It got its name from the 1691 grounding of HMS Wolf, a British naval vessel engaged in enforcing the Navigation Act and in combating piracy. In 1821 a lightship was stationed at this spot, and after refurbishment in 1854, the original ship was destroyed by Confederate raiders in 1861 during the Civil War. Two years later a replacement ship was put on station.

We arrived at the Dozier’s Regatta Point Marina in Deltaville, VA at 2:00 pm. We observed a Beneteau 40 sailboat a little outside the narrow channel trying to plow his way out of the mud. Speed up and bow down as he pivots on his keel, repeat. He finally made it back into the channel. We have mentioned previously that power boaters have the advantage of sitting up higher than blow boaters. Power boaters can see the changes in water color indicating shallow water and have a better view of the channel markers.

Dozier’s Reggatta Point Marina is hosting the Beneteau sailboat rendezvous. I didn’t see the invitation but it must have said 40′ minimum. There are no small Beneteau’s at this rendezvous. As a result of all the Beneteau’s taking the dock space we are under a roof. Gentle readers you know what means…………………..no satellite TV. The horror, the horror. The only saving grace will be if there is a torrential rain tonight. There is a wonderful swimming pool here.

The town of Deltavilla is spread out around the harbor. Not much here but there are a few restaurants, a West Marine, a NAPA store and grocery store. There is a bus that makes the rounds once an hour starting at 11:00 am. We caught the 7:00 pm bus to Cocomo’s restaurant. The last pick up is 8:15 pm so we encouraged our waitress to provide speedy service. She did. All is well.

Our ride in Deltavilla.

Captain Jack provides his usual Thursday musings.

Perfect Day

The sun is bright in the sky
no rain we see with a sigh
feels like a perfect day
is on it’s way
for us today
in light winds and flat seas
we hope for enough breeze
to beat the sailors
in our fleet.
Cap’n Jack
6-2-16

The forecasters say
it will be 77f here today in Lake Bluff
with the wind nw at 5-14kts.
Lake Michigan waves 1ft.
I hope the wind stays as forecasted but we know
what usually happens about race time,
the wind shifts and goes light.
let’s hope it sustains at around 10kts.
CJ

Bonus photo

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage.”

Henry Ward Beecher

Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God’s love, and his 1875 adultery trial.