Logbook: 10-25-2022
Logbook: 10-25-2022
New Point Comfort Lighthouse to Hampton, VA
Summary
Avemar and SV AKA untied from our raft up at the New Point Comfort Lighthouse anchorage at 1015 and motored 19 miles south from Mobjack Bay to Back River and into Dandy Haven Marina, arriving at 1400.
It was an overcast and misty trip with no wind, although we both had our mainsails hoisted.
My plan was to stay only for a night or two with the goal of having a hot shower, clean laundry again and filling up on provisions while waiting for a small low pressure system (or two) to pass up the East Coast before heading out into the Atlantic towards Florida.
As you can see in the photo above the channel into the maria is very skinny with room for only one boat to pass at a time. It was very well marked and I never saw less than 7 feet of water entering during an ebbing tide.
On my personal Navigation Complication Scale I’d score the Dandy Haven Marina entrance during daylight with no wind a difficulty rating of 3 out of 10.
For reference an 8 rating on my Navigation Complication Scale would be approaching the Fort Jefferson anchorage in the Dry Tortugas from the northeast at 3 a.m. in very dense fog.
I haven’t experienced a 9 or 10 rating yet.
Something in the transmission stopped working as I was drifting and shifting gears to hold my position in the marina while waiting to pull into a slip.
The shifter feels like normal and so I know it’s not a broken cable but the boat doesn’t move in either direction anymore when the engine is shifted into gear.
The marina owner was in a skiff at the time and he motored over and tied on a bow line and turned my bow so I could pull into the slip stern in without a problem.
I’ll be here for a couple of days figuring out what to do with the engine before heading out again. One option is to have Tow Boat US get me out of the skinny channel and then I’ll sail further south.
It is a sailboat after all.
Trip Notes
I like these family owned working marinas because they are nice and laid back. This one is particularly cool because it is so remote. It sits on acres and acres of land and it is only a few minutes off of the Chesapeake Bay.
I plugged Avemar into shore power and turned on the dehumidifier and heater and pulled out a hose and filled the water tanks. The marina owner loaned Scott his truck and we enjoyed two large pizzas at a local Italian restaurant. After stuffing ourselves with several huge slices, I made a quick swing through Harris Teeter for DayQuil™ and NyQuil™ combo pack to hopefully fend off what I think is possibly an oncoming cold. Arriving back at the boat, I was quickly off to bed.
Logbook: 10-25-2022
Crew? Solo
Where to? Dandy Haven Marina, Hampton, VA
Where from? Point Haywood, VA (37° 18.741 N 76° 17.213 W)
Anchor weighed: 1015 on 10/25/22
Where did I end up? Hampton, VA (37° 05.609 N 76° 17.880 W)
Docked: 1400 on 10/25/22
Sailing distance? 16.77 nm
Total miles since November 2021: 3,488.89 nm
Water: 43 g forward, 50 g port, 50 g starboard
Fuel: 47 g forward, 26 g aft
Cover Photo
Back River channel into Dandy Haven Marina, Hampton, VA