October 23 Mill Creek to Hampton

Well it was not quite as chilly as yesterday morning; 10 degrees, but we did need the heater on. We were up early as we wanted to leave by sun up. It was still dark when we lifted anchor and the sun was just starting to rise.

There was a CS 34 anchored in here. I was at the helm when Mike was lifting the anchor. I saw a lady on the bow of that boat and thought she was at the anchor but no…she was on the bow doing pilates or her exercises in 10 degrees. I commend her, that is dedication!

Here’s a shot of some of the boats in here this morning. What a great anchorage. If you ever find yourself on a boat either going south or coming back north and you’re near Mill Creek, Virginia, pull in there for a nice quiet night.

By the time we left the anchorage at 07:00, there was a nice sunrise.

And I thought the views just kept getting better.

By the time we headed out toward Chesapeake Bay, the sunrise on the water was beautiful.

We had to be careful of the fish traps or weirs.

Love this photo of the weir. Where the water meets the sky.

However, our peaceful morning was about to end. Out in the Bay, it was quite rough. The wind was against the tide and it was 15 kn SW. We were pitching, going down and up like a bottle.

We decided to roll out the head sail and see if that would stabilize us and give us a little extra speed as we were fighting the current. What do you think? Waves still crashing over us but it did help us gain some speed.

Well it was about 4 hours of that. We had a bail out plan and that was to divert and head into Deltaville instead of going to Hampton. The only problem was that the winds would be the same for the rest of the week so we thought we really should stick it out. A trawler passed us and shortly after , he radioed on 16 and said “to all you sail boaters back there, it does get smoother once you get past the Rappahannock River Inlet. That was all we needed to hear; we would keep going and not divert. After lunch, it smoothed out..a lot!

We did see some interesting sights once the winds and waves calmed down.

A typical Chesapeake light

Five cargo ships anchored

Sandy beaches

A Naval Ship

Old Point Comfort Lighthouse

Fort Monroe

We set the anchor at 16:10 at Old Point Comfort in Hampton. Across from us is the Hampton Roads Bridge -Tunnel

We plan to leave at first light tomorrow morning heading through Norfolk, Portsmouth and then down the Dismal Swamp into North Carolina. After the bashing we took today, we are looking forward to quiet waters.

Today we travelled 55.13 nm.