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| 8.1 knots under sail! |
The
sail from Urbanna to Deltaville was exciting!
We motored out the short channel from Urbanna
harbor at a little after 08:00, and immediately put up the sails and shut down
the engine. The wind was perfect for a
rapid transit down the Rappahannock river: southwest at 15 to 20 knots. During some of the gusts our boat speed was
better than 8.5 knots. (I think we were
favored by an ebbing current, too.) By
10:30 Kite was at the mouth of the Rappahannock and turning south to the mouth
of the Piankatank river. We were able
to tighten her sails enough to just make the southerly course we wanted to the
entrance buoy for the river. And then we
tacked to the west to enter the Piankatank river. We were not quite able to hold the course to
keep in the river channel, but we were enjoying sailing so much we decided to
tack up the river for the few miles to the entrance to Jackson Creek, in which
we planned to anchor. We actually did it
in only 2 tacks and by 11:30 we had to furl the sails and start the engine to
enter the narrow channel at the mouth of Jackson Creek. We were anchored before noon, and enjoyed our
lunch in a peaceful, well protected anchorage.
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| An osprey stakes a claim on a neglected boat |
We should mention that our short stay in Urbanna was quite
pleasant. The anchorage was peaceful and
almost crowded with nesting ospreys in various stages of either building the
nests or feeding the chicks. It was fun
to watch them. We also went into the
town and walked around. We had read in
the guidebook that the drug store had an old fashion lunch counter and soda
fountain. It was straight out of the
fifties, and we enjoyed some large vanilla milkshakes before heading to the
small supermarket for a few groceries, including fresh strawberries from North
Carolina. M-m-m.
In Deltaville, we are giving priority to finding a supply of
propane. Last night while lighting the
stove for our evening “cuppa” tea, we noticed that the top of the flame was
yellow, not the usual blue. This is a
sign that our tank is nearly empty.
Fortunately, we still had enough for coffee this morning, but when Peter
disconnected the hose and shook the tank after we arrived in Deltaville, he
heard and felt no liquid, so we were burning only the remaining fumes. Lyn called around and eventually located
Revere Gas, a mere 7 miles from the marina we are
anchored near. So tomorrow we plan to
beg a ride from the marina, or failing that, ride our bicycles with the tank in
a backpack on Peter’s back to get it refilled.
And we now know that a 10-liter tank of propane will last 7 weeks when
used daily for all our cooking.
As it turned out, the marina kindly loaned us a car to go
get the propane. Although we usually
enjoy a bike ride, it was another very hot day, so the loaner car was a welcome
solution, and now we have propane again.
The marina also had a lovely herb garden with a sign saying we could
help ourselves. Lyn collected quite a
bit of basil and fresh mint to use in a salad (and a Mojito!).
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