Edward and I got down to Santosha on Wednesday evening to get a couple of chores done before the trip, oil change fueling up etc… There is always a great sense of anticipation, that I love, arriving the night before a long trip and this would be our longest afloat.

Our plan was to sail and troll for Rockfish down the Rappahannock and anchor at Little Bay or Fishing Bay for the first night about a 25 km run. In fact we were not planning on setting foot on dry land for the entire trip.

Rob arrived Thursday morning and we quickly hit the water.

The Wind was from the north West at about 10 knots, I only put up the Genoa as I was trying to stay slow for trolling. We saw a lot of bait but no hits on the stretch 25s.

The wind swung to the east and dropped to about 5 knots as we rounded Stingray point, we quit fishing and had a leisurely sail into the Piankatank River.

Entering the Piankatank can be tricky, although it is well marked you have to careful not to miss a marker. There are many shoals that extend a long way past Stove point.

The plan was to spend the night in Fishing Bay, the place that I picked up Santosha five years ago, but there were several boats there so decided to hit the little bay just across from Cobbs Creek.

Its a nice little anchorage for about five boats with good holding in a mud bottom. Well protected from most directions and about 30 minutes from the mouth.

A great first day ended with a Low Country Boil!

Part 2 to follow soon…