Ten Days in Deltaville

By Friday, October 1st, the rain from Tropical Storm Nicole had blown through but it was still very windy and unpleasant. Since we had no idea how long we were going to be stuck in Deltaville, Todd’s parents, who we were supposed to meet on the Dismal Swamp on Saturday and spend several days traveling on the boat with us, decided they’d had enough of the rain and wind and headed south to Florida to visit Todd’s sister and family. As it turned out, they made the right decision!

This log came floating by us in the anchorage the evening of September 30th!

We were out of bread by Friday, so I baked a loaf of onion bread that morning.

Pictures from the anchorage Friday evening.

We finally had a nice, if cool, sunny day Saturday, although the Bay was still quite rough. We dinghied around Jackson Creek for a while and then tied the dinghy to the public dock to walk up to the main highway to see what we could find.

A few houses up from the public dock we met Michael and Deborah who have a weekend home on the water that they are in the process of remodeling. They graciously offered the use of their car or bicycles, so we took them up on the bicycles and pedaled to town. There isn’t much to see in Deltaville, but we browsed through a thrift store, bought a few things at the hardware store and pedaled another half-mile or so to a convenience store where we had a slice of pizza and bought a loaf of bread.

By Sunday the wind was blowing hard again. Some of the boats in the anchorage tried to leave and ended up coming back. And we had more rain to contend with. Gale & Maureen aboard “Blue Heron” were on their way out of the Potomac that morning and encountered six- to seven-foot waves when they rounded Smith Point at the mouth of the Potomac! They continued south in five-foot waves and finally arrived in Jackson Creek about 2:00 p.m.

Once “Blue Heron” got the hook dropped, Todd picked Maureen up in the dinghy and they took Michael & Deborah up on the offer to use their car to go to the Deltaville Market. Both Gale & Maureen were understandably worn out after a very rough day on the water so we were happy to pick them up and ferry them over to “Life’s2Short” for a hot, home-cooked meal that evening.

Monday was a cold, blustery, gray day that struggled to reach sixty degrees. It felt like winter and looked like it was going to snow! Michael & Deborah had gone back home to Richmond but were kind enough to offer the use of their laundry facilities, so Todd dinghied over and spent a few hours doing laundry. Bless him! I really don’t mind doing laundry but I don’t much like getting out in the dinghy in that kind of weather.

I want to say a HUGE thanks to Michael & Deborah for befriending a couple of stranded boat people and generously offering the use of their bicycles, car, home, etc. It isn’t every day you run in to someone who is willing to help out complete strangers, especially to that extent!

Monday afternoon Todd dinghied over to the Deltaville Marina to meet John aboard a boat named “Suzanne.” John and his wife are good friends with George & Mary, friends of ours, who used to own a boat called “Love Knot.” We originally met George & Mary on Pickwick Lake in 2007 and have kept in touch ever since.

We invited Gale & Maureen over again Monday evening for a soup dinner and ended up playing “Think While You Drink” until Gale wasn’t able to think any more!

Tuesday was also cold and windy with a predicted high of 65 degrees, but at least the sun was shining. We gave serious thought to heading south but finally decided to give it one more day as the wind was supposed to be lighter and from a more favorable direction on Wednesday.

Todd & Gale dinghied over to the Deltaville Marina shortly before noon to “rent” the courtesy car ($10 per person) for an hour to make a quick run to the hardware and grocery stores. Gale hadn’t been to the hardware store yet and he also needed to pick up a few things at the market for Maureen who had invited us over to “Blue Heron” for dinner that evening.

Since Todd was going to the store, I had him pick up a few items I needed to make banana cream pie for dessert, which as it turns out is one of Gale’s favorites (ironic since beef stroganoff is one of Todd’s favorites)!

A shot of “Blue Heron” as we were heading over for dinner.

Maureen’s beef stroganoff was wonderful, and following dinner we played several rounds of Catch Phrase with varying partners. But we didn’t want to stay up too late since we knew Wednesday would be a long day – time to venture back out into the Bay after being stranded for ten days!

Today is Wednesday, October 6th, and we were underway by 8:00 a.m. There was a mass exodus of boats heading south, not only from Jackson Creek but also from other parts of the Piankatank and the Rappahannock Rivers. Conditions were calm in the Bay and it was a nice, if somewhat cool, day.

About 1:30 p.m. we exited Chesapeake Bay and entered the Hampton Roads area where we encountered our strongest opposing current yet. “Life’s2Short” plodded along, hitting a new record low of four miles per hour!

We arrived at the Portsmouth Boating Center around 3:30 p.m. to take on fuel ($2.55/gal) and water, pump out, get ice, empty trash, etc. We then had to wait until 5:45 for the Gilmerton Bridge to open (rush hour traffic) so that we could continue to our anchorage for the evening.

By 6:30 p.m. we were anchored just north of the Deep Creek Lock in perfect position for the first locking through tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. We hope to go through both Dismal Swamp locks tomorrow and anchor north of Elizabeth City for the evening. We will then go through the Alligator River and the Alligator-Pungo Canal as we continue south, with plans to be in Morehead City by Monday to meet up with Rick & Lynnie aboard “Rickshaw” who are also making their way south. Can’t wait to see you guys again!