s/v Rainy Days

Hampton to Onancock

Apr 16 thru Apr 21

—Blogpost written by Bob

Hampton to Onancock Creek

We woke up before 7 AM on Tuesday, April 16, even though we didn't plan on leaving until 9:30 AM. We planned our trip around the weather and the tides--we didn't want to arrive at Onancock Creek at low tide. Before leaving Hampton we got showers and bailed the rainwater out the dinghy.

Sunrise from Hampton Piers
on April 16, 2019.

We departed our slip at Hampton Piers at 9:15 AM and proceeded out through the Hampton River where all the marinas are located and then motored out through the somewhat zig-zag Hampton Channel.

A forest of masts occupy the
Hampton VA waterfront.

The 50-foot tall Port Comfort
Light in Hampton was
built in 1802.

It was sunny and cool as we left Hampton and there was a very light breeze. As we got out near the Hampton Roads tunnel the wind started to pick up slightly out of the north. The wind continued to build (up to about 9 knots) as we motored toward our Tangier Sound Entrance waypoint (48 miles away) on autopilot. The disturbed sea state was costing us about 0.3 knots in boat speed.

As we progressed up the bay further we encountered the outgoing tide—this cost us about 1 knot in boat speed. I forgot to incorporate the outgoing tide in my plan for the day. I have always neglected tidal flow on the bay but it is significant, particularly on the lower bay.

About half way into the day’s trip we encountered a lot of crab pots maybe 5 to 6 miles off the eastern shore of Virginia in 40 to 50 feet of water. Normally, crab pots are in much shallower water. I wondered if this was necessary to catch the early season crabs.

The north wind died at 2 PM and the wind was gradually re-established from the south, exactly like the WINDY app predicted. It is nice to know that I can count on this app.

A screen shot from our chart plotter showing
our anchorage in Onancock Creek.

We anchored in Onancock Creek at 6:15 PM in 9 feet of water near day mark #12. We had 60 feet of chain anchor rode out. The wind was blowing from the southwest at 12 to 14 knots but we were well protected from the rough water by a long sand bar. The anchor dug in very snuggly after backing down on it with the engine.

The sunset from our anchorage
in Onancock Creek.

Onancock Creek to Onancock

During the last night the wind blew through the creek at 20 to 25 knots. For a time it was rough sleeping for me though the motion wasn't bad--it was simply wind. It was cool overnight (56 degrees F) and we slept with the v-berth's overhead hatch slightly open.

In the early morning of Wednesday (April 17) the sky was overcast, blocking out the sun's rise but it cleared up by 8 AM. The wind calmed down to almost nothing. By viewing the boat's position on the chart plotter in the morning, the anchor had apparently dragged a little in the wind last night but not enough to be concerned about. (I have to start using an anchor alarm system so that I'm alerted when this happens!)

We departed our overnight anchorage for the short 3.7 nautical mile trip (45 minutes @ 5 knots) to Onancock Wharf Marina at 9:15 AM. (Usually marina check in times are around noon but I thought that Onancock was more casual than most and its early in the season, so it wouldn't matter if we checked in early.) We arrived at Onancock Wharf at 10 AM. We were the only boat here this early in the season. (Onancock Wharf doesn't officially open until May 1.)

The last time we were in Onancock was in the fall of 2016 on our way south (you can read about it at this link) when Hurricane Matthew was barreling up the east coast.

s/v Rainy Days tied to the bulkhead
at Onancock Wharf on April 17.

We got our bikes off the boat's deck and adjusted the handle bars to that we could ride them around town. (We will be here for four nights.) Today was a beautiful sunny day with a light cool breeze--a perfect spring day!

The bar area of Bizzotto's
Gallery Caffe on
Market Street.

The downtown shopping area
on Market Street.

A painting of a woman smoking on the
glass panel of a back door
on North Street Market.

We rode our bikes onto town and had an excellent lunch at Bizzotto's Gallery Caffe on Market Street. After lunch we walked around and into a few shops. Onancock still has an active (I wouldn't call it vibrant) downtown shopping area with several very good restaurants. There are no parking meters nor traffic lights.

We bought a new stainless steel tea kettle with a whistle on the spout to replace the one I've had for maybe 30 years.

Our shiny new tea kettle purchased
from North Street Market.

First Stay Over Day in Onancock

Thursday (April 18) was sunny, warm, and calm in Onancock VA. It seems like our trip north this spring has been one of extremes in terms of wind--it has been either a day or two of too much wind or a day or two of no wind. The following screen shot from our WINDY app shows the extreme high winds over the next two days, April 19 and April 20.

As shown in the above WINDY forecast (red lines),
the wind on late Friday night and early
Saturday morning will be 28 knots
and gusting to 47 knots!

We decided to rent a car today and drive to Cape Charles, a place where we originally wanted to stop on the way here but, in the end, decided against it. Cape Charles is about 45 minutes south of Onancock by car.

The following images were from our land excursion to Cape Charles:

The downtown area of Cape Charles seems
to have a vibrant tourism business,
even this early in the season.

A ceramic statue of a boy outside
one of the downtown shops.

This beach was on the bay side of
Cape Charles. The tide was
out at the time.

As we ran across this sign along the beach, a man asked
me to take a picture of him and his girlfriend. As I
was taking the picture, he got down on one
knee and proposed to her. (She
didn't say yes or no--she's
thinking about it!)

The northern part of the seawall at Cape Charles.
The beach is just to the right of the seawall.

There was a huge marina in Cape Charles
that was practically empty at the time.

On the way back to Onancock, we drove into Wachapreague VA to see what the little fishing village was like. There was not much to write home about--its just a little fishing village.

Sunset over Onancock Creek
on April 18, 2019.

Second Stay Over Day in Onancock

There was a very good reason for being in a marina today (Friday, April 19) and tomorrow--47 knot wind gusts out of the south! It rained this morning and looked like it would rain more as the day progressed. We performed a number of errands (got some groceries and donated our old tea pot to a thrift store) before we turned in our rental car.

This is a photograph of tree pollen floating
on the water in Onancock Creek
beside our boat. A minute
later it was all gone.

Like every year during our return north, I've been working on our summer project list--I'm up to 33 projects. This year, I've tried to prioritize them or at least establish the order that they should be done. High on my list are modifications I want to make to our hard dodger (tilting it slightly forward instead of backward as it is now) and bimini (adding two braces) prior to our new canvas being made. Also high on my list is buying and installing an AIS transponder (and removing and selling my AIS receiver) as well as mounting and connecting a secondary chart plotter in the navigation station. (This latter project will also require moving our satellite radio.) This is the third year that I've come back with 30+ boat projects to do and I just barely get them done by time we are preparing to head south again.

Third Stay Over Day in Onancock

At 5 AM I was awaken from a deep sleep by the rub rail at the bow rubbing against a piling—the high-pitched noise came from right outside the v-berth where we slept. I stumbled through the cabin to the main electrical panel and turned on the spreader lights. Going out into the cockpit enclosure in my skivvies, I found that our shore power cord was taught and making a squeaking noise. Somehow the 3/4-inch 12-strand nylon stern line had come loose from the stern cleat—the stern was being restrained primarily by our shore power cable. The boat’s stern was a good 15 feet from the bulkhead and the wind was blowing the boat away from the dock.

I woke Maggie to help me reattach the stern line. Still in my skivvies but with a light rain jacket on, I went onto the dock to release the line and pull in the loose end so that I could throw it to Maggie on the boat. Of course, it was steadily raining at the time and the wind was fluky because the marina is nestled among trees. The tide was relatively high.

Our spring lines would probably have held us if the shore power cable let loose. I’ve never seen a cleated line come undone—I have to add this to the many things I check and recheck in my docking and storm preparation procedures.

Our four fenders in a haphazard
add-on arrangement. They
had to be adjusted several
times during the night.

A much better arrangement of
our four fenders. Fenders
on each row are tied
together acting as a
single long fender.

By 8 AM the rain had stopped and by 11 AM the sun came out. It was Saturday, April 20, the day before Easter. Maggie bailed the rainwater out fo the dinghy and we went out for lunch at Bizzotto's (again)--that's about all we did today. I hope I get a good night's sleep tonight!

Fourth Stay Over Day in Onancock

This is our last day in Onancock--Sunday, April 21. It is also Easter. I decided to make pork and sauerkraut in the crockpot today and we will have plenty of leftovers for other days.

Since it was such a beautiful day and we couldn't do much downtown, we decided to get caught up on boat chores and get diesel fuel today (so that we can get an earlier start in the morning). (I was surprised that the marina was open today.)

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As you may realize things are always failing on boats. Today was no exception--we discovered that the suction fan on our composting toilet wasn't working. So, after we got fuel, we tore everything out of the starboard cockpit locker where the fan is located and went to work looking for the problem.

The suction fan is located inside the
white housing shown above.

This is the failed fan. Fortunately,
I had a spare on board.

I removed the fan and tested it directly on the battery--it was dead for sure. I pulled out a spare that I carry on board and installed it--the fan now works great. (I didn't expect to be doing boat repairs on Easter!)