Weather was probably the most important unknown we faced when cruising. Wind speed and direction, wave height and speed, long and short-term forecasts—all this information impacted our schedule. We’d listen to reports from all the weather sites plus a few cruiser broadcasts, but as you can guess, none of them were one hundred percent correct.
So we compared and analyzed, looked at the sky, and then decided if we should stay or go. Most of the time it was a “go.”
After spending one calm night at anchor in a protected bay after leaving Norfolk, we studied reports the following day and prepared for a bumpy ride to Deltaville. High winds and high choppy waves in a large body of water like the Chesapeake are not fun in a power boat. We slogged our way north, turned into the Rappahannock River with another turn into a marina. Tying down tight was essential as the wind kept building.
Long story short: we couldn’t leave for four days. But the experience in that remote location was actually fun. We made new friends, had impromptu cocktail parties, ordered pizzas from the nearest town and had them delivered. We shared food on the deck or gathered to tell sea stories in the boater’s lounge, raided the marina’s small library, and thanked our lucky stars we were in such a nice place with other nice strandees.
A few of us piled into the marina’s courtesy car and went into town to restock our provisions. Most marinas have this amenity and it’s a real plus for cruisers.
On the second day, one brave soul left by boat and promptly came back. Too rough. On the fifth day we all departed. The weather looked good and we kept our fingers crossed that it would stay that way. We all headed north, but destinations for the group were different. Our destination was the Solomons in Maryland at the mouth of the Patuxent River, where we would stay two days, check out the town, gorge ourselves on crab cakes, and then head north to Annapolis.
We knew we would probably meet again in another port. Several were loopers like us. And that is probably what I miss most about cruising, the people you meet along the way.
So on to Annapolis and more adventures. You can catch up with the memories of this 2015 America’s Great Loop cruise at www.pamelagibsonwrites.com. Click on Blog. Start with 1.