Crew Log for November 1st – November 3rd, 2022
Trip Summary:
Jackson Creek, Deltaville, Virginia – Phoebus (Old Pt. Comfort)
Trip Distance of 34 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 1,544.2 NM
Departed at 07h30 hours and arrived at 14h00 hours
The anchorage at Jackson Creek was a mill pond when we woke in the morning, which likely didn’t bode well for getting the sails out. It wasn’t long and there was a parade of boats leaving Deltaville, all heading south. We were buddy boating with sv That’s It and sv Bleue Jazz, who we had been with since Annapolis. We were heading to Phoebus, the historical district next to the town of Hampton, Virginia. The anchorage is a popular staging area for boats heading off shore, including the Salty Dog Rally and ARC Rallys. It is well protected, given it is tucked in behind Old Point Comfort, which is also the site of the Fort Monroe National Monument.
As we approached the Point and Norfolk, the VHF came alive with warnings of a submarine practice exercise in the south channel. All boats were advised to stay away. We thought it was kind of funny that we couldn’t see them. Of course, how would we see any properly functioning submarine. There were also a lot of military jets and helicopters flying overhead, that rattled the boat as they flew by.
One of the more surprising things I’ve learned from our travels, is how obsessed Americans are with fishing. On the trip from Deltaville, we passed hundreds of sport fishing boats. A few miles from Hampton we passed one boat just as one of the guys caught a fish. He was pretty excited and was jumping up and down as his mates netted the fish. As we motored by we gave him a cheer which was acknowledged with two thumbs up and more hopping up and down.
I have an obsession, some might argue an addiction, to watching YouTube videos, mostly about sailing or fixing boats. Aside from being entertained for hours, I have benefited from the knowledge gained from other people who done this trip, gotten tips on anchorages and other helpful advice. Given that the Annapolis Boat Show had just ended, I expected we’d see a few Youtubers on our travels.
As we pulled into Hampton, the first thing that struck me was, how big the boats were. We were a miniature version of all of them. The second thing I noted was, there were a lot of catamarans. Among them was sv Sabado of Holly and Ray Youtube fame. I dropped Holly and Ray an email to say hello, but we never did connect. We did park our dinghy next to theirs at the dinghy dock though. That was our closest brush to fame.
We headed off to Phoebus for supper with the crews from our buddy boats. That’s It were heading out in the morning for Beaufort, NC and we didn’t know when we’d see them again and we would certainly miss them. On the way back, we stopped at the dinghy dock and chatted with some fishermen who had a successful evening fishing from their kayaks. It seems striped bass was the most common fish, although they mentioned a couple I’d never heard of before.
The following morning was an exciting one. Five weeks earlier, sv Adanaco left Rockland the day before us and we have been separated ever since. Until now. Their timing was perfect, given that shortly after they arrived, we discovered our anchor had caught an underground cable running through the anchorage. The effect of snagging a cable is exactly the same as tying a dog to clothesline. If the wind blows the right way, we would just slide down the cable until we reached the end, or in the worst case, hit the Hampton Bridge – Tunnel. Freeing an anchor from a large cable is no easy task and we were grateful for Adanaco’s assistance.
We re-anchored behind Sabado and will have to watch their YouTube channel to see if we are the featured in a “how not to anchor” video. After taking an Uber to what seemed to be halfway across the State to get provisions and propane, we hosted our first dinner party aboard Elizabeth M for the crews of Adanco and Bleue Jazz. We toasted Adanaco’s arrival (too many times) and shared a few laughs.
The next morning we decided to tour Fort Monroe. Completed in 1834, Fort Monroe is the largest stone fort built in the United States. The fort’s location was vital to the coastal defense of the Chesapeake Bay. President Abraham Lincoln spent four nights in the fort as he and his advisors planned the attack on Norfolk during the American Civil War. The fort also includes the cell that Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederacy was imprisoned following his capture by union troops in May 1965.
The fort was also the sight of the 1861 “Contraband Decision” that granted three enslaved men, and the thousands that followed, sanctuary at Fort Munroe, earning it the nickname “Freedom Fortress”. In 2011, President Obama designated Fort Monroe a National Monument. At the end of the American Civil War, Hampton University was established, not far from the fort on the Hampton River with a mandate to provide an education to former slaves and Native Americans.
One of the most unique features of the modern-day fort was repurposing officers’ houses and crew quarters and leasing them out as personal homes. Some of the other buildings had also been repurposed into restaurants, brew pubs and coffee shops. It is not surprising that it was a very desirable place to live and there was a long waiting list.
As we ate our lunch at the Firehouse Coffee Shop, we plotted our trip through Norfolk Harbor and down the ICW. Unfortunately, we get off to a rough start.
But, more about that, next time.
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