Day 47, Monday, October 19th

Chincoteague, VA to Wachapreague, VA

Track on ViewRanger

Going from Chincoteague to Norfolk in one long sail had crossed my mind, but with the awful cold and the sub-optimal experience yesterday I decided to make another shorter hop. Unfortunately the coastline isn't sprinkled with safe entrances and anchorages. That's probably another reason why people usually do the Delaware/Chesapeake detour. So my trip today only took me 25 miles further down the shore, and it was as they say 'a piece of cake'.
It was still freezing awfully, but with enough clothing on I managed to get everything ready. I deflated the dinghy as much as I could in its stiff state, and jammed it into the stern. I refilled the tank from one of my jerrycans, and then headed south. This time I saw a pod of five dolphins, it looked like two mothers and three calves. Lovely creatures.

I start getting a feeling that they are so common that nobody pays any attention to them, maybe like squirrels in Chicago?

Down the coast is mostly wild beaches on uninhabited barrier islands, but first I passed the Wallops Island 'Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport'. I could see a bunch of launchtowers and cooling water towers, but no rocket ready for launch. I think since their spectacular accident a few years back they are still licking their wounds.

The ride today was easy, the wind from the stern cold but not too strong, and I motorsailed to my destination that Alex had scouted out yesterday. The depthfinder was reading 9 feet in the channel, but after my grounding at 3 feet indicated I wasn't perturbed anymore. 

I'm now anchored next to an abandoned Coast Guard Station, in he middle of nowhere really. It's still pretty cold, else I'd inflate the dinghy and go ashore. Maybe later - but I doubt it a little.