Chesapeake Bay

Urbanna Fire Update

/ adam23235 / 1 Comment

There was an excellent article by Larry Chowning in the Southside Sentinal last week.

Two die in massive Urbanna marina fire; 21 boats destroyed

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Above is what remains after a Monday morning fire destroyed the main boathouse of Dozier’s Port Urbanna Marina on Urbanna Creek. (Photo by T.G. McMurtrie) 

by Larry Chowning

At about 4:30 a.m. on Monday, February 29, the sky over Urbanna Creek glowed orange through rising black smoke as the main boathouse and docks of Dozier’s Port Urbanna Marina went up in flames.

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Sailing/Fishing Trip, Part 1- Urbanna to The Piankatank

/ adam23235 / 6 Comments

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.

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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.

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High Water in Urbanna

/ adam23235 / 3 Comments

Last weekend, before Hurricane Joaquin was even forecast I went down the dock to check on the boat. It had been raining on and off for a week at that point ant the winds had been consistently blowing from the north east.

I knew that the water would be up but I was surprised to see how far it had risen.

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Back to Urbanna

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After a wonderful few days in Fleets Bay it was time to roll back up the Rappahannock to the slip in Urbanna.

After taking Mojo on a quick walk and making some coffee we cast off at 730am. I wanted to get an early start as the trip would be 6 hours and we had to clean the boat and get back to Richmond for work the following day.

I was hoping to get some sailing in as we left the protection of Indian Creek.

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Fleets Bay Part 2: Chesapeake Boat Basin and Kilmarnock

/ adam23235 / 4 Comments

After leaving Little Bay we sailed the four and a half miles North to Indian Creek and the Chesapeake Boat Basin. Its an easy run and Indian Creek is very well marked and very pretty.

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I stayed there before when my Dad and I sailed here. It’s a great little Marina, very dog friendly, reasonably priced, and in a great location.

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Fleets Bay Part 1: Little Bay

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Took a couple of days off last week so that we could get out on the water one last time before the kids went back to school.

The plan was to sail down to the beach at Little Bay, just north of Windmill Point and raft up for the night with our friends Daniel and Karen.Screen Shot 2015-09-09 at 6.54.44 PM

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First “Voyage” for a while…

/ adam23235 / 3 Comments

Last year I was making plans with Rick from Middle Bay Sailing to meet up in Deltaville when he attends the Watkins Owners get together, but last year I still had not gotten the water pump fixed.

By happy coincidence our neighbor had just bought a used Bristol and had moved into Stingray Point over Memorial Day and I was dying to check it out.

Jean and the kids had plans and I was thinking about doing the trip single handed, when Edward called to let me know that his plans had changed and his wife and kids had gone down to Norfolk to stay with family, so he was available.

Seemed like a weekend cruise was on the cards.

Deltaville is about 17 miles down the Rappahannock from Urbanna on the mouth of the bay, and is the biggest boating hub in the area. Personally I am not keen on the place due to the lack of a town but the people are nice and the services are good, except for a surprising lack of really good restaurants, but it is a great destination to meet and sail from. All the Marinas seem to well run with friendly staff but I got a slip at Doziers as that was the location of the Watkins meet up.

After a Friday night aboard we set off around 930am to catch the tide down river. The forecast was for 5-10mph from the North which would give us a nice Broad Reach all day. The wind however was pretty nonexistent, and we drifted along quietly.

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