Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main!

Note: We are not currently in the Chesapeake – thankfully, given the time of year.  I’m just WAY behind on blog posts.

We have a love/hate relationship with the Chesapeake.  I’ve posted about how the sailing in New England is far superior to the Chesapeake.  But still, there’s something magical about the Chesapeake Bay.  Every time we initially arrive, we think about settling here some day when we swallow the anchor.  Usually by the time it’s in our rear view mirror, we’re cursing its existence after having either wind on the nose, no wind, or 4-5 foot square waves with a 4-5 second period.  But not this time.  This time we had our best trip – hands down – along the length of the Chesapeake Bay.  

We took advantage of several days of VERY favorable westerly wind of about 20 knots or so.  Skirting along the shore to keep the fetch down, we had a splendid (albeit chilly) sail from Annapolis to Solomons.  

From there it was another fantastic sail to Mill Creek in Reedville where we hung out for a few days.  The forecast was for light wind, but on the nose, so we figured we’d wait until it was light wind behind us – just in case the light wind ended up being stronger than forecast.

 

We mixed it up by going from Reedville to Bryant Bay in Mobjack Bay instead of our usual stop in Deltaville.  I’ve never been crazy about the anchorage in Jackson Creek in Deltaville.  The holding has always been suspect to me, and it’s usually pretty tight with a lot of boats.  So we had a longer day to Mobjack which gave us a shorter following day to Norfolk, a new stop for us.  

Our friends Vanessa and Kurt spent a weekend last summer in Norfolk and spoke highly of it, so we decided to get a slip and check it out.  We ended up liking it quite a bit.  We were able to see my Aunt Rebecca who was kind enough to drive down from Charlottesville, and we also did some touring around and eating out.  

Norfolk had an active downtown area, and we walked the Cannonball trail through the Freemason District which is Norfolk’s oldest neighborhood, a national historic district with beautiful 18th century to early 20th century homes.  

 

Honestly, we barely scratched the surface of Norfolk and will definitely be stopping there again.  The Battleship Wisconsin, the Chrysler Museum, more neighborhoods – there’s still a ton left to see.  But, we can’t see it all in one visit.  For now, it was time to continue heading south.