Voyage 2023: Chapter 2

21 May 2023, Going Reedville Way, 37 50.388 N/ 076 16.524 W

I left Solomon's for Reedville, a little town off the Great Wicomoco (below the Potomac off of the Chesapeake). Reedville is known for their Menhaden fishing fleet. From what I know, they are one of the larger fishing fleets of their kind. The picture of the 'Stack' represents the reliance and pride of the community in the operations. The folks rehabilitated an abandoned a 'smoke stack' from an old operation. It also marks the narrowest part of Cockrell Creek, above which is the town of Reedville.

Ann and I loved the sleepy town, the two wonderful restaurants (Crazy Crab and Reedville Market), the ice cream parlor, and the Reedville museum. On our last visit, one of the local residents invited us and a few local cruisers for drinks in his freshly remodeled house. Also, we met our first Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) Port Officer on the Chesapeake. This trip, I was too tired to do much of anything except drive the dinghy to shore and walk the town. I was going to go to the Reedville Market, but I was just too tuckered. I am noticing a trend. Tomorrow, we will be heading home via a quick stopover back to Solomon's.

23 May 2023, Homeward bound, 38 46.518 N/ 076 33.792 W

Jule III left Reedville around 0800 yesterday in no wind and a very slow lifting fog. Visibility was nearly a mile so no real biggy as we had radar, sonar, and chartplotter (with AIS) keeping our path safe. The Potomac River crossing are a was nice with little current. At times, this general area can be quite uncomfortable if wind and current are opposing in the Potomac. As we approached Point No Point, the foggy weather had just left the Chesapeake, making life miserable on the Eastern shore. We arrived at Solomon's looking a place to anchor on the Miles. Dumb Capt. Bob. It was Saturday before the Memorial Day weekend, and we found no anchorages where this Cowardly Comfortable Cruiser (CCC) would want to anchor. So we went back out to the Pax River and anchored WNW of Drum Point. Life was good until 0500 today when the fishing vessel boats passed us. Still not bad. I cooked some hot dogs the night before I would finish. Mattie was in her comfort zone as the engine was not running.

We got up around 0630 as we knew we had to haul up 150' of anchor chain and we didn't know how much cleaning it would need. So I started the engine and I was ready to go up and get the windlass ready for the job. As was walking up the ladder, I noticed that the battery voltage was down near 12.0 volts. That meant the batteries were not being charged, we had a bad alternator, or a problem with a wire somewhere. Found the wire (field wire) but it was very hard to get to it. Repaired it two hours later and we were off. Six hours later, we were entering the breakwaters of Rockhold Creek. Time to tie up to our slip. I've learned that I should have a GPS speed of less than 2 kts as we approach F Dock, and 1 kt as we make the turn, and less than .5 kts as the bow enters the slip, and 0 kts as I am ready to grab lines. I may need to use prop walk to position her as the speed drops to 0. But no stern way unless I want to lose control. Yay. I tied up and finished a mostly uneventful trip. Next was a drive to Vienna to say hi to the kids.