Day 76 – N 37° 14.071’ W 76° 30.067’ Yorktown, VA

Leaving Deltaville yesterday morning promised to be a good day of sailing.  As soon as we got out of the channel exiting the harbor, we put up the sails and killed the engine.  But the wind was light, and we were going in the direction of the wind for the first few miles, and that made the wind seem even lighter.  We ghosted along at about 3 knots, until we reached the buoy where we turned more southerly, and then the wind was coming across the boat.  Our speed slowly increased to about 5 knots and we were happy to be making good progress.  A short while later, we were obliged to turn, again more southerly, and this course was as close as we could go upwind.  And then Peter observed that “this is perfect,” a steady breeze on relatively smooth seas, giving us good boat speed and a comfortable ride.  So immediately after saying that, the wind suddenly shifted more to the south, so we were no longer able to make the course we needed without motoring.  Adding insult to injury, the wind got lighter too. So after only 1.5 hours of sailing, we were obliged to use the motor for the rest of the 6-hour passage to Yorktown, VA.  It wasn’t all bad, though.  The tide in the Bay was ebbing in the direction we wanted to go, adding a free 1.5 knots to our speed.  And when we entered the York River, the tide in the river was changing over to flood, so we got a boost to travel up the river to Yorktown, too. 

Crab at a Farmers Market?  Why not!?

Back in 1970, Peter went to Coast Guard officer training at the Training Center in Yorktown.  That was a pretty intensive program, so there was no opportunity to go off base and see the attractions of Yorktown.  It is the site of the decisive battle of the Revolutionary War, where General Cornwallis surrendered to Geo. Washington.  Not far away is Colonial Williamsburg, a restored village where life is reenacted in the colonial style, and a short distance from there is Jamestown, where the English first settled in Virginia in 1608 and Capt. John Smith launched his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and married Pocahontas (ok, maybe that last part is exaggerated but there

Lyn fires cannon at Yorktown

is a lot of history here).  We plan to spend the weekend plus Monday in Yorktown, and since it was a weekend, Peter contacted his sister Ann, who lives in Richmond, VA with husband Mike, and arranged to meet with them today.  We had time this morning before Ann arrived, to shop in the Farmers Market conveniently held on the green next to the marina, and to see the Yorktown Battleground and the monument commemorating it.  The National Park Service offers a 15-minute movie describing  the key elements of the battle and how, through alliance with the French, we were able to win a decisive victory.  It was quite interesting.  We had lunch in a unique restaurant in the historic district called “the Carrot Tree.”  Excellent quiches, and the house specialty, carrot cake, was perfect!

It was another hot day, in the high 80s, with a nice breeze blowing in from the south.  We took a slip at the marina for the night to make it easier to meet with Ann.  Ann and daughter Jen arrived around 16:00.  We all sat out in Kite’s cockpit, in the shade of our bimini and enjoyed the cooling breezes while catching up on the goings-on of the Burdick family.  We all went to dinner at a nearby waterfront restaurant and again sampled the excellent crabcakes of the Chesapeake Bay.  As hot as it is, we will be glad to have air conditioning while we sleep tonight.

Ann and Jen aboard Kite with Lyn and Peter