Onancock, VA to Cambridge, MD

We left Cape Charles about 7:15 AM Monday and cruised north up the “Bay”.  We turned into the Onancock Creek and into the small town of Onancock, VA.  This is a small somewhat sleepy town.  It sits about 4 ½ miles off the Chesapeake Bay up Onancock Creek.   At the town docks there is a restaurant called Mallard’s.  The building was once a store and then a bank.  It dates back to the 1800s.  The small building beside the restaurant was once the main ferry terminal between Onancock and Tangier Island.  It is now a kayak rental place.

Mallard's

Crab baskets outside the restaurant (guess who is inside)

Old Ferry Terminal

In town the most notable site is the Ker Place.  This is a Federal style house built by John and Agnes Ker in 1799.  It was brought into their marriage by Agnes along with 365 acres of land.  John increased the size of the property to about 1500 acres over his life.  The grounds were a typical working plantation at the time.  John Ker was very involved in Virginia politics and served in the Virginia General Assembly.  He unfortunately had a very short life and died only 9 years after building Ker Place.  The house is now the site of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society and open for tours. 

Ker Place

While I was exploring town, Captain Keith got on the bike to peddle to the nearby bank to take care of some banking.  Unfortunately, he had a blowout and never made it to the bank.  He had to push the bike back to the boat.  AAA does not come out for bike tire flats (Bummer).

Keith's flat (very sad)

We also had some entertainment when a local brought his Labrador retriever down to the docks for some “fetch”.  I took the pictures through the back door so as not to interrupt the activity.

Accelerated shutter speed caught the action

Set Up

Execution

Landing

Completion

We left Onancock about 8 AM Tuesday and cruised northward up the bay and into the Hango River about 40 miles north.  Here we set the anchor to overnight since we could not get all the way to Camridge, MD in one day.  Nice spot, very quiet and great for star gazing once the sun went down.

If you look real close you can see the mud stirred up where we just dropped our anchor

Sunset at anchor in Hango River 

Wednesday morning, we pulled anchor at 6:30 AM and headed for Cambridge, MD. 

Leaving anchorage Wednesday morning

It was a little foggy to start but cleared quickly to bright blue skies and perfect temperature.  Light winds made for a smooth ride up the “Bay”.

King's Mill (near Williamsburg, VA to Cape Charles, VA

Saturday we cruised from King’s Mill near Williamsburg back down the James River and into the base of the “Bay”, then across to Cape Charles, VA.  

This is the restaurant overlooking the marina at King's Mill with Southern Style in the backround

I had Scallops and Captain Keith had Deviled Crab on our last night in King's Mill

The weather Saturday was overcast with light winds as we left King's Mill.  This was a nice change as the day before winds were howling and even at the dock, Southern Style was rocking quite a bit.  As we came out of the James River and turned northwest heading up into the base of the “Bay” we could just see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to our east in the haze.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (portion of the bridge)

The tunnel is between the two small buildings in the distance.  Imagine boats going over top of the cars in the tunnel under the water.

Opened in April of 1964, The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is one of only 10 bridge-tunnel systems in the world (3 of which are located in the Tidewater region).  Its official name is the Lucius J. Kellam Bridge-Tunnel honoring this civic leader who was instrumental in its development.  In a nutshell, it connects the Eastern Shore with the Western Shore of the “Bay” area.  There is a total of 17.6 miles of low level trestles, high level trestles, 4 artificial islands, and single tube tunnels.

The geography of the “Bay” is quite amazing.  Millions of years ago this region was an ancient ocean (hence the abundance of fossils).  About 35 million years ago a rare bolide (a type of comet or asteroid like object) hit the ocean in the area just off what is now Cape Charles, VA.  The bolide created what scientists call an “Exmore Crater” in the ocean floor roughly the size of Rhode Island and as deep as the Grand Canyon.  The event did not create the Chesapeake Bay, the “Bay” is much younger; however it did leave its mark.  As we cruised along this area much of the depth of the “Bay” was 20-30 feet deep, however as we approached the area where the ancient bolide hit, the depths increase by tenfold.  Just off Cape Charles there is 100 to 130 feet deep areas.  It is not as deep as when the crater was first formed.  Over time it has silted in, but the evidence of the once enormous event can still be seen on your depth sounder (kind of cool).

View of the Cape Charles Harbor from our cockpit

During the last ice age, glaciers a mile thick blanketed much of the East Coast as far south as Pennsylvania.   The Atlantic coastline was some 180 miles farther east than it is today.  About 18,000 years ago the glaciers began to melt and their flood waters rushed into the Susquehanna River and carved multiple additional rivers on their path to the coast.  Sea levels then began to rise adding more flooding to the region and moving the coast toward its current location.  And so was formed a drowned river valley, the Chesapeake Bay.

We walked around the small downtown area of Cape Charles on Saturday and had dinner at the  "Shanty", a seafood restaurant near the dock. The Shanty had a great Kentucky Derby crowd that was enjoying mint julips and there own house drink the "brown derby" made with bourbon and a lot of other alcohol.

 Light at the public docks in Cape Charles

Weather permitting, we will cruise to Onancock, VA on Monday.

Hampton, VA to King's Mill Resort, VA

We left Hampton Roads around 7:00 AM on Wednesday morning and headed up the James River.   Hampton Roads is the site of the March 1862 naval battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac.  These were the first ironclad ships.  This Civil War battle received worldwide attention from naval powers such as Great Britain and France who halted construction of wooden hulled ships after hearing about the ironclads.

This is a picture of a modern submarine in port having work.

As we cruised up the James River. A strange site came into view.  Just a few miles south of Williamsburg and on the opposite side of the River from Fort Eustis is the Ghost Fleet.  After WW I the US Navy and merchant marine had extra ships and no place to store them.  So, in 1919 the James River became a sort of parking lot for these vessels.  Officially known as the James River Reserve Fleet, people began referring to them as the Ghost Fleet.  At its peak in 1950 there were some 800 ships present in the James River, but over the years many were removed to fight in other wars, dismantled for scrap, or sold for artificial reefs, etc.  Today only 9 of these now obsolete vessels remain.  Many hope they can be removed soon.  They are an environmental problem as well as a danger should a major hurricane break one or more loose as they could be swept into a major bridge in the region causing severe damage.  They certainly are a strange site, and I would suspect even stranger should one be coming past at sunset. (cue creepy music).

Ghost ships on the James River

We arrived at the King’s Mill Resort and Marina around 10:30 AM which was ideal as Captain Keith had a tee time to play the River Course early in the afternoon.  King’s Mill Resort arose from the desire of August Busch II, president and CEO of Anheuser-Busch, to find a new location for a brewery.  In 1969 he purchased 3,900 acres here on the James River including 300 acres of land that was originally granted to Richard Kingsmill in 1617.  These 300 acres were to become the resort.  It is very nice with 2 golf courses, several restaurants, a spa, tennis center, and marina.  They were getting ready to host the LPGA tournament next week so the River Course was in excellent condition per Captain Keith.  The resort also provides free shuttle service to Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and Water Country.  This was very convenient for “car-less" boaters.

With Keith playing golf in the afternoon, I took the kayak out and did some exploring on the river.  There are many fossils in this area and just down river from where we docked is a cliff with some many ancient scallop shells which were amazing to see.  Chesapectan jeffersonius is the state fossil of Virginia.  This now extinct fossil lived between 5 and 8 million years ago in this region of the Virginia coastal plain.  

Kayaking on the James River

Shells in the side of the cliff along the river

My Chesapectan jeffersonius next to a quarter for size reference

Wednesday evening, we had a quiet and simple dinner on board.

Thursday morning Keith and I took the first shuttle and spent a good bit of the day touring Colonial Williamsburg.   It was very interesting and we particularly enjoyed the Governor’s Mansion and Wetherburn’s Tavern.  Williamsburg was once the thriving capital of the colony of Virginia.  In 1780 Thomas Jefferson, the then Governor of Virginia lobbied for the capital to be moved to the more central location of Richmond.  Williamsburg then became a simple, quiet college town.  It was 1926 when Rev. W.A.R. Goodwin along with John D. Rockefeller began the task of preserving the city’s colonial history.  These men were responsible for the preservation of over 80 original structures, the reconstruction of scores of additional buildings and the construction of extensive facilities to accommodate the visiting public.

Governor's Mansion

Front Gate to Governor's Mansion

Arms on wall in Governor's Mansion

Pengi in Colonial Williamsburg

After a busy day of site seeing we went back to Southern Style to freshen up before heading back to Williamsburg to meet Keith's neice Lydia.  Lydia is a freshman at the College of William and Mary.  Lydia provide a tour of the campus and then we all went out to dinner together.

The College of William and Mary is the second oldest in America.  In February 1693, King William III and Queen Mary II of England signed the charter for a perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and other good Arts and Sciences to be founded in the colony of Virginia.  William and Mary (W & M) was born.  At the age of 17, George Washington received his surveyor’s license through W & M and would return as its first American chancellor.  Presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Tyler, and James Monroe received their undergraduate educations there. 

Pictures of Williams & Mary Campus

It was so awesome to be with Lydia as she gets ready to finish her first year at William and Mary before going off to St. Andrew’s in Scotland next year.  We all had a great dinner at The Blue Talon Bistro then had to say goodbye to Lydia so we could catch the shuttle back to the resort.   

We are looking forward to seeing all of the NJ Mackeys in a few weeks as we cruise along the NJ coast.

Chesapeake, VA to Hampton, VA

I had a great visit with good friend Robin Terry, who was kind enough to host me for an overnight in Raleigh last week.  I showed up at her door with suitcase in hand and said I have no house, no car, and sometimes I sleep under a bridge but she still took me in. Thanks so much to Miss Robin.  I also spent a wonderful 5 days in Pennsylvania visiting my mom, sister, her husband, and my nieces and nephew.  I got a lot of things done and was really able to enjoy myself. 

While I was away, Captain Keith accomplished a lot with Southern Style at Atlantic Yacht Basin.  He got her stabilizer leak fixed, had a top to bottom wax job, as well as fresh coat of bottom paint and new zincs.  She is standing tall.  Keith and I returned my rental car Tuesday morning, put 1,014 gallons of fuel on Southern Style and left Atlantic Yacht Basin for Hampton, VA catching the noon bridge opening.  This is the Great Bridge bridge.

Tug waiting for the bridge ahead of us

Boats coming through the bridge with us

Here are some of the boats coming through behind us

The town of Great Bridge, VA is the site of the first Patriot victory of the Revolutionary war.  For you history buffs; Dec. 9, 1775 Patriot forces won a battle here against the British forcing them to evacuate the area.  Even the British Governor Lord Dunmore left Virginia after the battle.  This denied the British the Port of Norfolk, the finest sea port between New York and Charleston, SC. 

Appropriately an eagle flew over the boat as we passed by

The stretch of water along Chesapeake Virginia and Great Bridge Virginia is known as the A & C Canal (Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal).  This canal provides a connection between the Albemarle, Pamlico, and Currituck Sounds in North Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay.  At the north end of the canal is the Great Bridge Lock.  This canal and lock was completed in 1859; and at the time, it was the second largest lock in the US.  The other water route connecting North Carolina and the Chesapeake was the Dismal Swamp Canal which was started in 1793 and dug largely with slave labor.  The A & C Canal and Lock however was dug using 9 steam powered dredges operating on floating platforms.  It was an engineering marvel of the time.  When opened a toll was collected from boats traversing the canal and lock.  In 1912 however, the US government purchased the canal and did away with the toll.  Today the A & C Canal and Lock as well as the Dismal Swamp Canal are operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Boats coming out of the lock behind us

We traversed the Great bridge lock and continued through Norfolk, VA.

Welcome to Norfolk

Navy boats in the yards are everywhere in Norfolk

We arrived at the Hampton Public Docks at about 3:30 PM.  A nice easy day with calm water all the way.  Tomorrow we press on to Kingsmill Resort and get to see Keith's niece Lydia who attends the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

Ocracoke to Coinjock, NC to Great Bridge, VA

Southern Style left Ocracoke on Saturday morning around 8 AM.  So sad to be leaving, but hopefully we will be back soon.

Southern Style at docks in Ocracoke 

Ferry in Ocracoke 

Ocracoke Lighthouse

You can see the sounds we crossed on the map

We went north up the Pamilico Sound past Hatteras to our east.  There was a mild head wind and waves on the sound were 1-2 feet on our nose.  We decided to run the day at cruise speed around 20 knots.   The Croatan Sound came next with Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo to our east.

Roanoke Island is known for the English settlement founded by Sir Walter Raleigh and John White in the spring of 1587.  John White was an artist and friend of Sir Walter Raleigh and he along with about 117 settlers established a colony on Roanoke Island.  Relations with the native American Indians were very strained at best; and by late in 1587, John White decided to return to England to gather additonal supplies and settlers for the colony.  He left behind the original settlers as well as his daughter and granddaughter, Virginia Dare, who had been born that first summer.  Virginia was the first English child born in America.  Unfortunately because of weather problems and the break-out of war between England and Spain, White's return to the colony was delayed for 3 years.  When he did return in summer of 1590, there was no one left at the settlement site.  The only clue as to the fate of the people was the word Croatan scratched into the wood of a fence stake.  To this day there are many theories about what happened to the colony, however it remains a mystery.  Every summer the Roanoke Historical Society reenacts the events surrounding the disappearance of the colony.  "The Lost Colony" is a popular attractions for locals and vistors to Roanoke Island.

After passing through Croatan Sound we entered Amlbemarle Sound.  The Albemarle was smooth and we had a nice ride past Kitty Hawk which was to our east.  Once across the sound we continued up the North Carolina Cut to Coinjock, NC.  We tied up at the marina in Coinjock and about 30 minutes after arriving, friends Max and Kathy on Air Time pulled up right behind us in their Meridian 540 pilothouse.  We had cocktails on the back of Southern Style and had dinner together with them at the restaurant there.  Keith and I had the 16oz. prime rib of course.  It did not disappoint.

Coinjock Marina

Air Time right behind Southern Style

Max and Kathy were off Sunday morning heading back to Maryland for the summer.  Keith and I left about an hour after them.  We were not going very far Sunday.  We came out of Coinjock and across the Currituck Sound to Great Bridge, VA.

North Landing Swing Bridge (WE definitely do not fit under this)

We caught the noon opening

Southern Style will have some work done at Great Bridge,VA on her stablizers.  While Keith manages the work on the boat, I am getting a rental car and doing some business and visiting in both Raleigh, NC and Lancaster, PA for the week.  We hope to be back to our trip north with Southern Style by about April 30th.