Day 48, Wednesday, October 21th

Wachapreague, VA to Norfolk, VA

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When I left this morning the stranded boat was still there - I didn't dare get close because I could see that their boat had a really shallow keel, if they ran aground I wouldn't even get close with the Caprice. Amazingly Alex texted me that he knew the people who ran aground, and that they got off eventually, after apparently digging some ditch! I even got a photo - and they are truly and fully aground.

I'm glad that they managed to get free, especially since I hadn't been able to help them.

My own journey went very well. I couldn't sail because the wind was straight on my nose, but it wasn't very strong and there weren't really high waves. So it was an easy motor ride.

I saw a number of fishing trawlers, each of them equipped with two smaller boats that they launch and do whatever they have to do to catch the fish, and then retrieve. They even had a spotter plane!

Conditions got so nice that I was able to sit in front of the boat at the mast and look out for dolphins. I didn't see any then (but later), but instead a few pelican came close, probably checking if I was a fishing boat, and departing with a huff when they saw I wasn't.

As I turned around Cape Charles I was able to raise my sails and sheet them in real close, for a few extra fractions of a knot. I couldn't believe my speed over ground - 8.3 knots at times. The incoming tide added a cool 2 knots to my own speed.

For the first time ever I tried the inboard sheeting blocks that one can screw into the deck when needed. They worked really well with my small jib.

I passed under, err, OVER the Chesapeake Bay bridge. Sorry, very confusing. This bridge has an elevated part and two tunnel parts. I passed over the center tunnel since there was no immediate traffic, apart from this abomination:

One of the maxims of engineering is: 'If it doesn't look right, it probably isn't right'. I guess no engineers were involved in the design of this thing.

Right before the Hampton roads there's Thimble shoal with a lighthouse to warn you off

I finally approached the Naval Station, and was amazed to see three carriers docked there

On the left is CVN-75, 'Harry S Truman' and in the middle is CVN-69, 'Dwight D Eisenhower'. The beast at the right is LHD-1, 'Wasp'. 

Look at the beam of those ships, 77 meters! According to Wikipedia, they carry a total crew of 5700 people each. Imagine the galley!

Further down the line of docked ships there were some real oddballs, for example this one:

I have not the slightest idea what that is.

Further down the line, some regular ships again, I think they might be destroyers.

Past the Naval Station is the commercial harbor, with container ships and supertankers.

Finally I'm closing in on downtown Norfolk as the light is fading. But what is this?! An old friend:

Funny to come across the same cruise ship I saw in New York City. I don't think I'll catch up with them again.

Finally as night breaks I reach the anchorage in the center of Norfolk, just in time to drop the anchor and have dinner. Tomorrow I'll move into a marina to resupply and explore Norfolk

Tuesday, October 20th

Wachapreague, VA

The wind forecast for today looked terrible, 15 knots and more straight from the SW, exactly my course. This would have been an ordeal and I wouldn't have been able to make Norfolk before nightfall under those conditions. Dave and RoseAnn from Pyxis persuaded me to wait a day, and I'm glad they did.

First of all I had time to make myself a proper breakfast (bacon and eggs on toast!), and could sit inside and relax in the warmth. My big propane tank ran out, and I'm on the last of my little one-pound bottles, but just in time the temperatures are rising.

I suddenly got a little wake, and looking out I saw a boat with half a dozen people docking at the old coast guard station. They stood around on the deck in front of it for some time and then opened the windows and doors. Another boat arrived and they looked like over a dozen visitors.

I shaved and got dressed and inflated the dinghy, but by the time I got to shore they had walked off into the woods. I walked after them, and realized too late that I didn't bring any mosquito repellent, a big mistake.

I soon encountered the first people of the group and introduced myself. They told me that the island is actually off limits and that they are with the Nature Conservancy. I walked with them back to the station and had some great conversations with a few of them. One of them, Belle, was a bear guide in Alaska in the season - imagine that for a job. They told me about their project to make the coast guard station into a showroom/shelter for school groups that they plan to bring to the island as an excursion. In turn they were curious about my story. I'm glad I met those nice people. They even offered me a ride back into town when they heard I needed provisions, and a free ride back. I cannot reach the town with the Caprice, unfortunately. I thanked them for the offer, and instead they left me a half dozen half liter water bottles - my water situation is thus solved.

After they left I spent some time cleaning up the boat, and then I saw another sailboat sailing into the inlet, but they turned north. When I looked again a few minutes later, they were still in the same position, with their sails up. Eventually I realized they must be stuck. Unfortunately I couldn't go and offer assistance, because I think Caprice will likely run aground over there as well. And they were much too far for me to row over with the rubber dinghy. I switched on the radio and listened if they were calling for help but I didn't hear any calls.

By sunset the tide had receded pretty far and my last view of them was them leaning over a bit. It doesn't look too terrible, the next tide will hopefully be high enough for them to free themselves. Poor guys, this could have been me two days ago.

Day 47, Monday, October 19th

Chincoteague, VA to Wachapreague, VA

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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.

Day 46, Sunday, October 18th

Ocean City, MD to Chincoteague, Va

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This is how to run aground: Top is Navionics map of Chincoteague. Yellow is my track, the red arrow my intended destination

This is how this looks like in reality - I found my supposed clear path blocked by a whole beach. WTF? At first I anchored to get my bearings, but as you can see my anchoring spot wasn't real nice. In the middle of the surf, actually.

I decided to go along the shore and look for a better spot. I ran into the trap you can see in the satellite photo. Caprice bounced on the bottom once, than again, eventually coming to a stop. Reversing didn't free her, but the swells made it possible for me to push her forward and reverse course. I bounced several more times, thinking that each of them might be the one that makes me get stuck for good. At this point I hadn't yet seen the satellite photo, and not knowing what lay ahead the safest course seemed to be to reverse out of this spot on my own track. Finally I got into slightly deeper water.

When I looked at the satellite photo I realized I had been led into a trap that didn't exist on the maps. I now used that photo to find my way to the little cove I'm currently anchored in.

The day had started a little more pleasantly. Since it was freezing cold (45 degrees or so) I didn't get up very early and had a leisurely breakfast before fighting my way against the rising tide back into the ocean. The incoming current was over 3 knots. Unfortunately there were no dolphins in the inlet, and I didn't spot any ponies today either. But the wind was steady, if a little chilly, and I sped south.
A dolphin appeared at some point and swam alongside for a few minutes, but I didn't manage to get a photo. Maybe tomorrow?
In the early afternoon the wind diminished and I shook out the reef on the main sail, and maintained a good speed. The weather looked a little ominous in the later afternoon, some dark clouds appeared, and when the wind refreshed I put the reef back in. Not much later the wind really started picking up and I had a recurrence of my dreaded dinghy problem. I'm dragging the inflatable now, and to avoid the running away/overturning/swamping problem I lift it somewhat up on the swim ladder. This has worked well so far, but today the wind got so strong that the dinghy started lifting off completely and twisting on its back. It would soon lift off again and do another twist, and so on. Its rope was eventually getting a serious twist in it which lead to it shortening and pulling the dinghy even higher and leading to more twists. This and the increasing wind made me pull in the main and deciding to pull the dinghy on board. But how to do this in the strong wind? I first thought to turn against the wind, start the engine and pull the dinghy onto the stern. However, in really strong winds with large waves and swells the autopilot can't keep the boat steady on a course against the wind. As soon as the boat turns a little to one side, it quickly develops a strong urge to turn more, and the autopilot over corrects and makes the boat oscillate. So instead I decided to run with the wind and pull the dinghy to the side and then up on the side deck. Once I had managed this I deflated the dinghy and tied it to the lifelines. Tomorrow I'll pack it in the bag and put it below. I really should only drag it in calmer conditions, I now learned.
The wind was still howling and I was a bit exhausted so I decided to just motor the rest of the way into Chincoteague. Caprice is considered a 'wet boat' in a blow, and slowly motoring into the winds was a drier way to get to shore. And that's when that beach appeared where it didn't belong...

Day 45, Saturday, October 17th

Cape May to Ocean City, MD

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I woke up refreshed and in good spirits to a brisk wind. It didn't seem nearly as bad as yesterday and I decided to go ahead with the 'outside' route. The alternative (waiting for Tuesday when the wind was predicted to change to south) looked just too inconvenient. I didn't want to spend so long in Cape May, especially with the cold predicted to come with the NW winds. My propane heater is fantastic but I have to get new propane soon.

John had decided to stay, so I lifted anchor and exited the anchorage and went south through the channel into the ocean. John also told me that a friend of his had tried to go up the Delaware Bay yesterday but had returned back to Cape May when he found it to be too awful.

I had set the reefed mainsail and changed to my small jib already when I got into the mouth of the Delaware bay. As I made my way across it and toward Delaware, the wind increased a little and the seas got a bit choppier, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared.

The tide was running out and the wind and swells were all in the same direction, to the SE, which possibly helped to avoid the nasty effect of waves and swells working against each other that leads to awful chop.

I saw a freighter and a big tanker going up the bay behind me, but otherwise the traffic was minor.

John's friend Alex was now in group text conversations with us and he said he left the anchorage to follow me south. When I reached the Delaware coastline the waves diminished and I stopped the engine (I had run it across the bay to make good speed and get through the bay). The wind was perfect for my reefed sails, and Caprice whizzed south on a broad reach. I encountered my first few dozen floats from crab pots or fishermen's nets, I couldn't tell. But once I saw how they were in neat rows with pretty equal distances it was easy to avoid them. The whole day the wind was blowing perfectly, with a very brief calmer spell, and I got to Ocean City, Maryland in the early afternoon. The main season is over here, the beach and many hotels and condo buildings looked a bit deserted

There was a very strong current coming out of the channel and even with the indicated speed of 6 knots through the water my GPS showed only 3 knots. As I came through I saw a bunch of dolphins playing in the current. First dolphins! I hope they will be there again when I leave tomorrow, maybe it's their playground.

I turned left into an anchorage in the channel behind Assateague Island, a barrier island that I'll see the whole day tomorrow, too, as it's running down the shore all the way to my next planned stop.

The island is famous for its inhabitants, wild ponies, that are according to one legend the survivors of an early Spanish shipwreck. I'll look out for them tomorrow, they can apparently often be spotted on the beaches.

I found an anchorage close to the shore and quickly set off by dinghy to shop for propane and food. It was a long walk but I found both. I even found a place where I could refill my propane tank, but I hadn't carried it with me and I don't think I'll walk back all the way tomorrow. I had some trouble rowing against the current to the Caprice but made it all right, and soon Alex turned up for a brief visit and a sip of rum. He'll head down the coast early tomorrow to make it further than my own plan, to give him plenty time to reach Norfolk the next day. We'll stay in touch so he can explore for John and I.

Friday, October 16th

Cape May, NJ

When I woke this morning I decided to take a day rest. The wind was blowing fiercely from the NW, and it's well known that this means the Delaware Bay is awful. I read about it many times, and would hear about it again the next day. I went back to my bunk and chilled for another hour, then made breakfast and peeked out. What the hell was that boat next to me?

It's hard to see in this photo, but the owner even put topsails on the mast. Pity I didn't meet him in person.

I decided to use a lull in the strong winds and row to land, with the tide out there had appeared a smallish bit of sandy beach right behind the Caprice. I pulled the dinghy on land and asked a nearby worker if it was OK to leave it there. He told me it was NOT OK - in fact it wasn't OK for ME to be there either because this area also belongs to the Coast Guard Training facility. I quickly relaunched the dinghy and returned to the Caprice before the CG would arrest me. Since I couldn't row very far with the dinghy my planned excursion came to nothing.

I kept discussing with John from Aquinna whether to wait in Cape May for better weather to go up the Delaware, or go down the coast 'outside'. I decided to wait for the morning to see how it looked and how I felt.

Day 44, Thursday, October 15th

Barnegat Light to Cape May

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After an uneventful night I started this morning at 6:30, even though this was somewhat late to make Cape May at daylight. But I didn't want to exit Barnegat in the night, so I had to wait a little.
Outside was as good winds as yesterday, so I quickly switched off the engine and romped SW towards Atlantic City. By the time it came into view the wind was becoming boisterous.

Soon after this photo I actually put a reef in the main because the wind was slowly clocking W and beating into the wind with the Caprice means a lot of heeling, unless one reefs. By the time I was at Atlantic City the wind had turned so much that we slowed down to 3 knots. I considered putting into Atlantic City but didn't really want to lose half a day sitting in the anchorage there, so I continued and started motorsailing. Even with this however it became clear that I wouldn't make Cape May in daylight.

Beating into the waves that had built up by now caused a bit of spray and I put up the dodger to shelter behind. I usually sit by the companionway and read, and peek around the dodger every five minutes. On one of my peeks I noticed the horizon looking somewhat odd, and when I looked again closer I realized that a huge, strange barrier was stretching right in front of me, almost blocking my path. I changed course out to sea to get around that contraption. I had no idea what it is, and I wonder if it's even visible at night. It must have been at least 1000 feet long.

Soon after I encountered two strange platforms, again, no idea what they are. They appear to have some big pipes or hoses attached to them:

The sun set eventually and I continued in the moonlight. The sea had calmed a little and visibility was excellent, and I had no trouble entering the well lit channel into Cape May. Some dredging operation confused me a little but Navionics maps helped a lot. The anchorage south of the channel was crowded, and after driving by it a little I dropped the anchor at a decent spot, I thought. Soon I realized that I was probably too close to a neighbor,pulled the anchor again and moved a little. I repeated that exercise twice more before I thought I'm not likely to bump anybody or be bumped tonight. 
The Coast Guard cadets on shore were doing their screaming training, but at 10PM they went to bed and all is peaceful now.