Hampton to Deltaville | 5.9 Hours | 42.1 Miles
We could not have asked for a prettier morning. We were on deck at 8:00 to unplug power and ready the lines for a quick and easy departure. I took one last long look at the houses across from the marina and their perfect reflection in the Hampton River. We eased off the dock, made a U-turn, and headed into the busy Hampton Roads basin. AIS targets and blue motion vectors lit up the chartplotter screen. Barges and heavy equipment were positioned around the corner as part of the new tunnel construction. We heard the cargo ship Marco Polo on the radio as it turned east into the Chesapeake. Approaching from starboard at 12 knots was the Colorado Express. We slowed and let it pass in front of us. All of this happened as multiple tugs were staging to escort the USS Wasp into the harbor.
The Wasp is a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship, and the lead ship of her class. I found it interesting that she is the 10th Navy vessel to bear the name since 1775. She is designed to accommodate Landing Craft Air Cushion for fast troop movement over the beach, Harrier jets, and the tilt rotor Ospreys. The low and strong morning sun made it difficult to catch a good photo, but she made an impressive silhouette. That same sun nicely illuminated the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse on the banks of Fort Story. Once the Wasp passed I was able to get a better view of its 843-feet length and 104-feet beam. Not evident was its draft of 27 feet. Once clear of traffic, we turned north into the Chesapeake Bay. A couple dolphin came over to say hello and spent a few moments playing in our bow wave.
The majority of our trip was surreal. The wind that has battered us for two months was absent. It was difficult to distinguish water from sky in the haze. The breeze was below five knots all day, and spent a great deal of time below one knot. We passed Wolf Trap Lighthouse around noon and noticed that it was getting a much-needed fresh coat of paint. The Coast Guard was conducting rescue exercises at the mouth of the Piankatank River. We rounded Stingray Point Light and headed up the Rappahannock River. The Norris Bridge was barely visible on the horizon through the haze.
A turn to port took us into Broad Creek channel and past the 1BC day marker. I went into deckhand mode and readied our dock lines for arrival. Looking back toward the Bay, the water was unbelievably flat. We were fortunate to arrive at high tide as there was not a lot of water in the Broad Creek channel. Shoaling continues to make the entrance challenging. No preferred blue and green depths were displayed on the tablet, and only a thin stripe of yellow remained among all the red. Our only excitement of the day occurred on the final turn into our marina when we came nose to nose with a work barge. We moved over and hugged the pilings at Regatta Point to allow the barge enough room to pass. Barry anticipated its wake and throttled up quickly so as not to get pushed into the pilings.
We appreciated the low wind as we easily backed into our slip and reattached all of our dock lines. We were disappointed that we couldn't give Crossroads a bath because the water has not yet been turned on at the docks. It is still early in the season despite today's temperature in the 70s. I took my chair to Fiberglass Beach and enjoyed the warm afternoon and our usual peaceful view. After dinner we walked around the marina to see what was new. Dozens of Bradford pear trees line the marina's main drive. They were in full bloom (but did not smell) and formed an arching canopy leading to the lighthouse. Tomorrow morning we'll uncover my car, load a few essential things, and head home. Friday we'll head to Beaufort to pick up Barry's Escape. At that point we'll be back to life, back to reality.
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