A Short Message from Boy Wonder

Wanted:  Good Home

G'day Cap'n Speedo,

Yes, happy something birthday. I've lost count after your 50th, so I'll just assume its somewhere around that figure. I will have a beer this evening on your behalf.

How's everything, sailed anywhere yet or are you still pulling the boat apart to find that one rusty bolt that could cause a leak in maybe 15 years?????  Not much here has changed since my last e-mail so i'll let you get back to reading more instruction manuals, and remember, if you need any help, i know everything!!!

Take it easy,  BW

And then I saw it....blurp! blurp!  (recovering a lost mooring )

Giday BW,

Thank you for your birthday wishes and smart a*** comments.  I'll have you know that we simply haven't worked out how to undo the mooring lines - and we're working on it. 

Meanwhile, our solar panel kit arrived today, and we have resorted to paying a fabricator to make the frame work to hold solar panels.  Also today we finally worked out what was wrong with the autopilot and fixed it (with just a  little help from an electronics technician!!!).  We are due to check out of the marina this coming Wednesday, hopefully, solar panel fitting allowing of course.

Jus' Hangin in the Vegie Patch

So there!  Great and significant progress is being made.

Cheers, The Cap'n

PS  Love from Mummy  (who has doubts about achieving our Wednesday departure....) 

PPS  We had a really nice fresh crab feast for my b'day dinner.  You would have really liked it!

On WJ2 in Broken Bay

Happy Birthday also to Tree Boy who really can sail (here's proof) but for the moment prefers trees.

(Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. Spelling errors left to incriminate.  Ed). 

Cruise the Med Anyone?

Cruise the Med NOW!

Thetis

Friends we met on Dangar, Mary & Roger, have been cruising the Med for at least 8 summers living aboard their Beneteau, Thetis.  Thetis is currently up for sale so if you're interested in meeting us in the Greek Isles sometime soon, then follow this link... http://sites.google.com/site/goodyachtthetis/home 

M & R also kept a blog so you can read up on their adventures at http://grantsafloat.vox.com/ .  Sounds wonderful and we can't wait to "cross the ditch" to start exploring.  We might never come home!  (I can just hear the kids cheering at this.)

(Ed. 2011. M&R have since sold Thetis.  Their adventures in Europe continue.  Their blog on Vox has vanished.)

A Dog an' a Cob

Heritage Day in Downtown Deltaville 2010

First came a Little Red Engine

We were warned.  A Chesapeake duster** strikes with force late afternoons on the hottest of days.  So too it was that the Deltaville Heritage Day Parade (celebrating 4^th July) swept into town.  Where did all these people come from?  The roads were so busy, we had to have traffic and pedestrian control; State Troopers, Local Sheriffs and even the Coast Guard came. The whole shebang... 

Then we raced a couple of crabs

The day started early with a nautical flea market (Cap’n Frugal bagged a few bargains) before we biked to the Art & Food Market to become involved in the heady atmosphere of Crab Races.  Kids were paired with feisty blue swimmers and given spray bottles of water.  The atmosphere was electric.  And a good few crabs survived although they were not expected to participate in the afternoon's scheduled parade.  (Someone had a steamroom bath already drawn for them.)

Friendly firemen in big red trucks led an advance guard.  Miss Spat and Miss Oyster candidates sat on the back of comfortable convertibles.  Others were towed by their mums in decorated pull-along wagons.  Boys and girls marched and gymnasts leapt about despite the heat.  Clowns posed for happy holiday snaps and buggies, dangerously overloaded with balloons and sweets shared them liberally with little (and big) kids.  Old cars, new cars, enviro cars and bat mobiles edged along Route 33 with unaccustomed reserve.  It still sounded like a tank invasion.

And a Gaitor blowin' bubbles came by

By far the largest representation was from ACCA Shriners, a large troupe of Masons who support children’s hospitals.  Their membership had precision driving teams of go-karts, motor bikes, bright orange clown cars and even bubble blowing 'gators - all worthy of Edinburgh Military Tattoo performances.  These guys take their community support role very seriously but even so manage to enjoy themselves. 

Hey Dad...want one?

After the parade, we headed for the dog and cob stand to try some local fine dining.  The dog cost $1.50 and GS had ketchup.  But where were the onions, hmmm?  The Galley Slave also picked up some farm-fresh peaches and corn for later, then roved an (experienced?) eye over too many garage-sale tables in search of a treasure she could sneak on board. 

Antique Tractors rolled by

We followed the crowd to a baseball game scheduled to “play ball” in a vintage 1940’s ball park shrouded in chicken wire netting pocked with ball impressions.  Don’t sit behind the pitcher!  Cap’n Rowdy showed the reserved locals a thing or two about barracking for your team, a-la rugby style.  I’m not sure Rudy (on the opposition’s team) appreciated being told his mother drives a truck! 

We all love a big old car

Watched a ball game in a 1940's stadium

Despite such fantastic support, the home team, the Delta’s, lost.  After the game, the really old & bolds were paraded out before the crowds for a batting demonstration.  Some of them should have been invited back to play in the home team (especially those who hit balls outside the ground!).

Supported the local team from the bleachers

And finally, waited in the cemetery (in the dark) for fireworks 

Behind the ball park the crowd gathered for 9pm fireworks and were a trifle fidgety.  Fireworks had been delayed by at least an hour while the winning baseball team kept hitting ‘em home.  It wouldn’t have been so bad, except the parking lot/picnic spot for the fireworks was the local cemetery.  “Pull up a pew.  Oh sorry, that’s someone’s gravestone!” 

We rode home in the dark in time to watch the fireworks from our floating home (and to eat real food).  Indeed fireworks erupted around the Creek and all over nearby Gwyn Island.  It was some show.  A celebration of independence; a hazy memory of a war-torn land, and a show of national pride.  Everyone joined in!

**A Chesapeake duster is like our Southerly buster

White Pepper

Life on the Farm

Of course they do other things in Deltaville.  We did look twice at this sign before realising it didn't mean certain death for happy, bouncy little spring lambs.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Stingray Point Marina

With all that spare time, we’ve managed to bike our way around Deltaville and get to know the environs fairly well.  The village is spread out along a 4 mile stretch of road that starts at the supermarket and ends at Stingray Point (more or less).  Given the area’s maritime history and current recreational boat standing there are several gift shops, two West Marines and lots of boat yards and marinas.  Other boat accessory shops (canvas, sails, surveys, electronics etc) are scattered along the road too.  Even so, the road remains fairly quiet; the feeling is definitely rural with a nautical bent.

Nautical Nostalgia, Deltaville

Chesapeake Bay was known to be explored by the Spanish as early as 1525.  An expedition was launched out of Hispaniola.  (This is now current day Dominican Republic/Haiti but back then it was prospering New World colonies founded by Columbus after his voyages in 1492 & 1493.)  

Captain John Smith, an Englishman, made a thorough survey of the Bay during 1607 to 1609 in search of foods & supplies vital to Jamestown’s survival.  Stingray Point was named by him after he was stung there by a cownose ray.  His life was saved by local Native Americans who administered an antidote.  Smith’s voyage route was declared a National Historic Trail (all water) in 2006.  Unless you own a river punt drawing 2 inches, then forget it! 

Classic Deadrise ready for repair 

The American Revolutionary War did not leave the Chesapeake unscarred.  In 1781, the French Fleet defeated the Royal Navy in the Battle of Chesapeake.  Many towns dotted around the Bay, large & small, have direct links to battles during those war-torn years.  Lush county vistas contradict the military complexity and political preferences that split brothers, families and towns.

Renamed in 1909 from Sandy Bottom, Deltaville now supports a small community of up to 800.  It’s location on the delta between the Rappahannock River to the north and Piankatank River to the South made it the perfect commercial boat building centre.  Many designs were customised to the needs of the local oyster and crab watermen and Deltaville’s most famous is the Deadrise.

F D Crockett

Holly Point Maritime Museum has an interesting exhibition of restored craft including a log bottom buyboat, the F.D. Crockett.  These larger craft plied the bay buying from watermen and getting a fresh catch to market. And yes, these boats were actually crafted from whole logs - an amazing skill.  Our photos do not do them justice. 

Hmmm..... I wonder if we could make a swap?

The museum also has a shallop, Explorer, launched in 2007.  After much research, it was build as a replica of Captain’s Smith’s versatile, open wooden workboat, that had a wooden mast and sails of hemp canvas.  Smith’s original shallop was though to have been transported in the Susan Constant to Jamestown in 1607 with the first colonists.  See our previous post to remind yourself how small this ship really was!!

Likewise, WJ3 is loaded to the gunnels….and there’s only the two of us.  We have a shed load of tools (from a fantastic local hardware store that we now almost own) and our two trusty bikes.

Hope Floats

26th June 2010

Watermelon Summer

Hope Floats……. And so does WJ3!  Ya’all be pleased ta know that WJ3 has splashed.  She is now in a pen at Deltaville Marina for a month.  Yesssireee bob, we’ve moved a grand total of 400 metres – most of it by travel lift.

Well, I know you’re curious.  Remember the planned 2 week "working on the boat and it will all be done before madam arrives” thing?  Well it all fell in a heap beginning with the 2 weeks home alone and continues still, even after 6 weeks of working on the hard in Virginia’s impossible summer heat.  We’re now enjoying daily heatwave conditions varying between 99 to 100F’s mixed up with the odd 104F (40C) days for good measure.  Did I mention the humidity?

Hey!  That's my spot!

Work and modifications continued in sauna conditions up in the yard until “we” made a decision that life would be a wee bit better afloat.  You know – mod cons like refrigeration, aircon (so we can sleep at night), a bath house and even a swimming pool a mere 10 steps away.  Sign me up!  The Cap’n continues with his to-do list and has added a few unplanned extras like solar panels in prep for the big crossing next year.  Why not, indeed?  Things are cheaper, easier to access and we have professionals close at hand if it all turns to you-know-what.  The First Mate continues to direct traffic from either the pool or the air conditioned sailor’s lounge. As you would expect!

Prime Position at Deltaville Marina

We are now into week 2 of our 4 week stay at the marina and WJ3‘s engine is in bits – a major service is underway and the cheque book is in need of a little defibrillation!  Our float plan is also in need of a facelift as summer (in the north) is fading quickly.  Watch this space – we may get as far as Reedville this year!  (Reedville is on the other side of the Rappahannock River – about 30nm or an afternoon’s sail away). 

Yes, it's not a blue moon

It’s just that Windjammer seems to really like it here.   And she wants to stay…