Day 3 - Moving on...

You can see from the early morning picture below, there really were no worries in regard to the weather. This would be the third day on the boat and I was already wondering if I would ever get to sail the Distant Horizon. I had heard the Chesapeake is calm in the summer, but this was mid-May!

Bow out, we're ready to move on.

There are many nice stops along the Chesapeake and its contributing rivers, but we had just one week to reach Annapolis. The plan for this day was to make a long sail to Reedville, VA; bypassing the typical cruiser's stop in Deltaville. This would be our longest day of the week, logging around 50 miles.

By 9:30 am, we had breakfast; the route programmed into the chartplotter; and the dock lines aboard. The tide was low but rising. Once out on Mobjack Bay, we had a slight breeze from a favorable direction. We continued to motor, but raised the mainsail. This is called motorsailing. Just a slight pressure on the sails from the wind will help boost the boat speed. Alternatively, you can back off on the engine and save fuel without loosing speed. Due to the distance to be traveled during daylight hours, we chose to take the boost.

We continued to motorsail towards the Chesapeake's main channel. Along the way we passed the lighthouse in the photo below. On the chart, this lighthouse is simply listed as abandoned. I later found this is New Point Comfort Lighthouse. Built in 1805, the lighthouse was abandoned in 1963. Early in the 20th century, the Chesapeake went away from the familiar lighthouse towers.

Abandoned Lighthouse

If you look to the right of the the abandoned lighthouse, there is something sticking up on the horizon. That was our first view of the Wolf Trap Lighthouse. The picture below provides a better perspective. This is a more typical Chesapeake styled Lighthouse. 

Wolf Trap Lighthouse

Commercial fishing is alive and well on the Chesapeake! I was really surprised to see how large these ships are. The structure in front of the ship is called a fishtrap. Believe it or not, there are no less than seven fisherman on the fishtrap working the nets... just to give an idea of the scale.

Commercial Fishing on the Chesapeake

Reedville was a disappointment. When we got there, everything was closed except the fish processing plant. The Crabby Crab Restaurant was closed as well as the marina and fuel dock. I was too busy negotiating the shallow water to take pictures.

We left Reedville in favor of Mill Creek, where some friends had told me there are some nice anchorages. So, tonight... we test the ground tackle... that's anchor, chain and all that stuff. We arrived just prior to sunset. I was pleased to discover how simple it was to set the anchor.

We made it... Mill Creek Anchorage... just prior to sunset!