Last day on the Chesapeake | Evergreen's Log

October 18th- Jackson Creek/ Deltaville, VA to Mill Creek/ Hampton, VA

Captain and crew were up at dawn and prepared for our trip down the bay. The Chesapeake had some seas built up due to a windy few days. The harbor at Deltaville was pretty calm. The bay was not. Early in the day we had gusts topping 25mph. We had the sails properly reefed prior to leaving the harbor so we were ready for it. Having said that, the first half hour or so is always difficult as it takes a little while to process what is going on. Eventually, the coffee kicks in, the sails are set, and Catalpa is flying down the bay.

Sometimes I wonder if we all had a better sense of humor when naming things back in the old days. This is Wolf Trap Light. I find it difficult to photograph rough seas but they show a little in this picture.

Eventually the wind calmed down a bit but the bay was still rough. This creates a problem as we are still bouncing around, but not moving as fast. Eventually we fired up the diesel engine.

Norfolk is a city with a busy waterfront . You can see it in the distance for a while. It has a big port and is important for shipping. We probably saw about a dozen ships anchored or moving towards the port (along with military helicopters and Coast Guard cutters). More on Norfolk when we get to it.

This big guy was coming at me for a while.

The approach to the area is called Hampton Roads. All of this shipping gets squeezed into a relatively tight area. We got to this late in the day. We also ran into a 1 to 2 knot current which slowed us down. Our goal was to go up the Hampton River but with daylight ebbing, I spied a cove off our starboard side called MILL CREEK (again). We stopped at the cove for the night. It is bordered by a highway tunnel entrance on one side and Fort Monroe on the other. We planned on touring Fort Monroe the next day but plans change. The remnants of tropical storm Nestor are supposed to drop by this area sometime Sunday. On Friday night, they had a gale watch (34 to 47 knots) in effect for this area. This has since been down graded.

October 19th- Mill Creek to Hampton Creek/ Hampton, VA

I woke up this morning and decided that this particular Mill Creek was not a great place to be in a storm. It’s exposed to wind from a few directions and it would be a long, wet, dinghy ride for Olliver and me. Up a river, near a dock, would be better.

We raised the hook and motored up the Hampton River. We are anchored a short distance from the Hampton Public Piers. Today we walked around town. Ollie got some “me time” in a dog park. We had clam chowder and local beer for lunch. There is a brewery on the dock. We have access to hot showers. It’s a good place to sit out some inclement weather.

Some of the sights. We have access to WiFi again.

Hampton University