On anchor just outside the Onancock marina.			Onancock marina from the anchorage

July 5, 2008: Onancock to Tangier Island -17 Miles

Departed Onancock for Tangier. Met at Park's Marina by Mr. Parks who runs up and down the dock on his motor scooter. Dockage: Boats less than 30 feet: $20 More than 30 feet $25, plus five dollars for electricity. Great deal. Had an awesome late lunch at Hilda Crockett's restaurant. There is no menu, they bring you food family style with the main entrée as two huge crab cakes. Twelve people sit at a table until it is full then the next table is filled. Great experience. A Storm had came through on the 4th of July, so they saved the celebration for our arrival! Town turned out for a street dance and fireworks. The Tangier Volunteer Fire Dept set off the fireworks and also created a HUGE fire on the beach which took several hours to extinguish. This gave them the opportunity to use their new fire truck for the first time they just received 4 months earlier

Tangier Facts:

* 565 people live on the island. 44% have the last name of Crockett, Parks, or Pruitt. John Crockett was the first to arrive in 1686.

* Mail, FEDEX, UPS, etc. arrives via the mail boat from Crisfield daily at 1:30. The Post Office closes for sorting and reopens at 3:00-4:30 for everyone to pick up their mail. There is no home delivery.

* The doctor flies in on his private helicopter on Monday and Thursday with a nurse. He has been instrumental in building a new medical facility for the island. There is a PA and two RNs who live on the island full time. Expecting Mothers are moved off the island before giving birth. Residents can also ride the daily mail boat to Crisfield for medical services. The Crisfield hospital has a boat dock.

* A dentist flies in on his private plane every other weekend.

* There are 20 cars and trucks on the island. Everyone drives golf carts for island transportation. Most people keep a mainland car in Crisfield.

* The grocery store is restocked on Thursdays. The store will shop for special items on the mainland by request.

* The school is one of two, K-12 schools in Virginia. In 2007-2008, they had 89 students, 2 in pre-k, 50 in elementary, and 37 in high school. There are 15 teachers and two aides. All are originally from the island except for four, who have become residents and married local men. . Average class size is 6-10. In 2008, 5 went to college, one in technical training, two working on tug boats.

* The Peeler houses where crabs molt into soft shells are closing down along with the Crabbing Industry due to crabbing limits and regulations. Attendants at Peeler Houses check the crabs every 5 hours for molting, otherwise the other crabs think the soft shells are pretty tasty also.

Departing Onancock
Entering Tangier
		Peeler House for soft shell crabs	Graves in the backyard. Graves are everywhere on the island
Hilda Crocket's Homestyle Restaurant		Mr. Parks, the marina owner said he owned 44 cats! Cats are all over the island.
Walk-about the island	Marina in the distance		We had smoke from the Great Dismal Swamp fire, at least 80 miles away.
Departing Tangier on the east side	Downtown Tangier	Tangier from opposite direction. Park's Marina is around the corner to the left		Departing Tangier
		Sailing to Crisfield

July 6, 2008: Tangier to Crisfield - 14 Miles

Neat town with outstanding facilities. As you enter town, the channel is an alley way between buildings. Thank goodness there was a sign that pointed this way. Inside there is a great and protected anchorage with an easy dinghy ashore and a state run marina (Somers Cove Marina) with 550 slips!  We walked to the grocery store and there were plenty of places to eat ashore as well. We had dinner aboard. 

Entering Crisfield Harbor. This channel opens up into a beautiful, protected anchorage and a 550 slip state run marina.
				An old crab "Buy Boat" converted for a youth marine program

July 7, 2008 Crisfield to Solomon's, MD - 41 Miles

Great day of sailing considering we had a long distance to go. Wind died about 10 miles from Solomon's, then picked up again. There appears to be more sailboats than at Deltaville. Zahnhiser's Marina is a top notch operation that does rigging, painting, sails, ....you name it.

				This Crabber was very much like Hemmingway's Old Man and the Sea character. Long flowing beard, 60-70 years old, an old boat and working alone.
		Solomon's Lump Light (North end of Smith Island)
Zahniser's Marina - Solomons	The A/C was a nice luxury in marinas. We actually only used it twice. Weather was great.
Drum Point Lighthouse, Patuxent River, the Solomons. Moved from it's original location.			Breakfast in the cockpit

July 8, 2008: Solomon's to St Mary's - 42 Miles

The days started out great, then, as the NOAA weather says, scattered thunderstorms with locally heavy winds.  One mile north of the Potomac River we got hit with a storm 45 knot winds, 6-8 foot seas. Sails were down and at maximum power we made 1 knot into the wind. At the time we were in our own version of the Perfect Storm, riding the swells directly into the wind. We managed to angle from the SE winds to the south and after about an hour, we turned up the Potomac and SURFED at 6-7 knots. Crusader was about an hour ahead of Dream Date and  already in the Potomac when the storm hit. Things were quiet and serene when we met up with Crusader at the anchorage next to St. Mary's College. 

July 9, 2008:  St Mary's - At anchor

The weather forecast was for 15-20 knots on the bay and small craft advisories, so what better place to spend a rest day and go tour the St Mary's settlement.

After the worse of the storm and we had turned downwind on the Potomac.			After a wild afternoon on the bay, a beautiful sunset and sailboat from St. Mary's College
	Crusader at anchor	The Maryland Dove, replica of one of the ships that came to St Mary's in 1630	Barber's, Peterson's and Crew of the Maryland Dove	The Ordinary (tavern and inn) at St Mary's
	St Mary's College has a large sailing program and free dockage during the day. We "dinghied" ashore with Dream Date.

July 10, 2008: St. Mary's to Reedville - 37 Miles

Great sailing day! Broad reached down to Reedville in ideal conditions. Reedville is a beautiful place to go anchor. Breaks into a couple of rivers with plenty of room and protection.

			Smith Island Light at the Potomac River entrance
Bella the Boat Dog! Really got her sea legs on her first trip.				The infamous Menhaden Cat Food Processing Plant. Fortunately we were upwind at our anchorage. One magazine said they were no longer operating -NOT!
Reedville splits into about three tributaries with lots of beautiful anchorages.				Dream Date under Double Headsail. It was our first time we had used this method. We sailed doubles twice and it worked very well.

July 11, 2008: Reedville to Deltaville - 23 Miles

No wind, flat water. Motored all the way. Deltaville Marina has a free courtesy car, you can borrow an hour at a time. We went to the grocery store and then had a great lunch at Kokomo's. (OK, we had it for 90 minutes, but what were they going to do?)  People you meet along the way: In the marina we were next to a couple who were living aboard on a 37 foot Cris-Craft sailboat, with their two kids (an infant and 4 year old). He was a Boat Captain who delivers supplies to oil rigs off the cost of Louisiana. Gone for 4 weeks and back to Deltaville for two. The wife was also a licensed captain, but she had her hands full raising the kids. They had family in Suffolk. 

		Flat Water!	Deltaville Marina
Cruising the Chesapeake Bay is a wonderful thing, Out in the middle, the flies will eat you up! Counter attack with repellent and fly swatters.	Fishing pens, you don't want to run into these in the dark!
			Dream Date and Reedville Light - Great Wicomoco Rive	Departing Reedville under motor

July 12, 2008:  Deltaville to Hampton Roads - 42 Miles

Light winds upon departure and we got to be in a sailboat parade leaving Jackson's Creek. They were having a huge sailboat regatta and there must have been 75-100 boats preparing to race. We worked our way through them and headed for the Bay. We saw Crusader meandering NE looking for wind and we headed south under power. Ran to Poquoson Flats in light winds on our nose, then had a great sail the last 10 miles home, arriving at the Norfolk Naval Sailing Center about 6:00 PM. Crusader arrived home about 9:00. What a fantastic trip. Next year, Annapolis, Plan on it.

Wolf Trap Light. Where did the name come from? Her Majesties 350 ton ship Wolfe ran aground on the shoals there in 1691.

 

Posted July 20, 2008
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