Southern Chesapeake Bay Cruise 2019

[Jaybeaux]

In another thread, I shared that we, along with 8 or so other boats, are going on a 9 Day tour of the southern portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Our home marina, located on the Occoquan River in Northern Virginia, is approximately 95 miles from Smith Point. We depart on July 13th. Our itinerary is as follows:

Prince William Marina -- Coles Point Marina (1 night)
Coles Point Marina -- Cape Charles Town Marina (1 night)
Cape Charles Town Marina -- Tidewater Marina (Portsmouth, VA 2 nights)
Tidewater Marina -- York River Yacht Haven (2 nights)
York River Yacht Haven -- Coles Point Marina (2 nights)
Coles Point Marina -- Prince William Marina

I am going to attempt to document our trip, take pictures, take some video and share our experiences as others have done. It should be a hoot. On our second stop at Coles Point, we are meeting up with the Potomac River Yacht Club Association's "Float In 2019". This is the 33rd year of this event. I know that there will be at least 4 Sea Rays there: 340, 2-420's, 48. If you are there, give a shout. We are the Prince William Yacht Club, or PWYC. Our motto is "Party While You Can".

We will also be playing with AIS and DSC. I hope to set up a Group MMSI to "simplify" group communication. We'll see how easy, or not easy, it is to use!

Our Flotilla is having a preparation/briefing meeting this Sunday. We will discuss routes, entrances, safety equipment, spares, and anything else we can think of. Anything in particular that we should include on the agenda?

Stay tuned for updates. Please share any tips, ideas, or wisdom.

Jaybeaux

 

[Boat Guy]

Sounds great...have fun

 

[Gimme Time]

Gimme Time is located in Tidewater slip B-7 and will keep a look out for ya as we’re on the river side of the main dock heading to Office & Slips Bar Resturant!

 

[Jaybeaux]

I've been at the boat since yesterday afternoon (7/11), prepping for our trip. I fueled up, pumped out, water filled in between thunderstorms. Today, it has been clean, clean, clean, and clean. The old girl is looking pretty sporty. The majority of our flotilla left this morning and made their first stop before noon. All good. We plan on leaving in the morning (7/13).

Gimme Time: Tidewater said that we will all be on F Dock. Our arrival is scheduled for Monday, July 15th. We will be there for 2 nights. Hope to hoist a beer or two.

Jaybeaux

 

[Boat Guy]

Cool guys...Too bad you're not coming north....

 

[Jaybeaux]

Perhaps next year. I'll run it through the powers that be.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Day #1:

We threw lines at 7:45 AM at Prince William Marina on the Occoquan River in Northern Virginia. We have been experiencing some thunderstorm activity the past few days, so we idled all the way out to the Potomac River before getting up on plane. I believe Capt. Rusty calls them "Occoquan Alligators", which are essentially just huge chunks of trees. Anyway, we made it to the big river without incident.

We made excellent time as we had an outgoing tide with us. We sailed by Mallows Bay. For those that don't know, our Navy, burned to the water a bunch of ships there. It is the largest ghost fleet in the Western Hemishpere. It consists of 90 or more, mostly poorly constructed steam ships for WWI. We made our way past Fairview Beach, Mathias Point, and to the US 301 Bridge which marks the beginning of the Dahlgren "shooting range". Fortunately, they don't operate on the weekends, so we were able to navigate the main channel. On days when the range is active, the Navy positions boats in the river to direct marine traffic to alternate channels.

We cruised in to Coles Point at 11:15 AM. We ran for 4.2 hours. We burned 38.5 gallons per side, for a 9.17 gph burn rate per engine. Or 18.4 gph combined. Part of that is due to about 8 miles of travel at 800 rpm.

Interesting story about AIS. We were coming around Mathias Point. Nothing visible, nothing on radar. My AIS warning on my phone goes off. It's set for 5 NM. It is warning me about an inbound vessel that I can't even see yet! I really like the way it performed. It should come in very handy down around Norfolk.

Jaybeaux

 

[Gimme Time]

Ladies & Gentlemen,

We shall stay over Monday evening to celebrate your arrival & hopefully dinner up the street if you’d like.

GT is on B dock on the Starboard side stern in and you want miss her. Certainly let me know when you’re here as you might see me on the water as I’m taking some family out at 10AM to see some of their steel tax dollars in the area. We should be back at the dock between 12 & 1:30 depending on a lunch stop.

If anyone’s running AIS you should see us between the dock and our aircraft carriers along the water so give a shout on 13. You should begin monitoring 13 once you come in from the bay which will have local traffic for hailing among Commerical traffic.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Day #2

We got an early start to the day in order to catch slack tide at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. It was a gorgeous morning. The closer to the bay we got, the water started to hit swells. It was a fun welcome to big water. We rounded the point without incident and in fact the further south we traveled, the calmer it got. We was ocean going tugs, tankers, freighters, and cargo ships. I have some pictures, but our WiFi is not that great so I will post more as an epilogue.

Our destination was Cape Charles Town Harbor Marina on Virginia's Eastern Shore. To avoid shoals, you have to travel south past the entrance, and then come back up north in a well marked channel with a good bit of current.

What a surprise Cape Charles was! Shops, bars,and restaurants. Lots of people all buzzing around in golf carts. We went, via land, up to Kings Creek and had a fabulous lunch at The Oyster Farm. We really enjoyed it.

Our next destination is Portsmouth, VA with a quick run out past Cape Henry into the Atlantic Ocean.

Jaybeaux

 

[Jaybeaux]

Gimme Time......I just saw this post this morning (Tuesday). I'm so glad it all worked out. It was a blast hanging out and sharing a meal with you and the Admiral. Your hospitality is unmatched!

Jaybeaux

 

[Jaybeaux]

Day #3

We threw lines at Cape Charles at 7:00 AM and headed out into the bay with a 5 boat flotilla. I was in the lead! Two of the boats went directly to Portsmouth, so three of us ventured out into the ocean.

Navigating in a busy harbor area keeps you on your toes! It isn't hard, but you are thinking the entire time. My AIS system was very valuable. At one time I had 57 active targets on a 10 mile radius. And if you don't think that a huge container ship can cover 10 miles in no time, well think again! We crossed over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel at the northern tunnel section, and zipped across the shipping lanes heading to Cape Henry. We saw dolphins for the first time on our own boat!

We pulled a 180, and set a course for the Elizabeth River. We crossed over the southern tunnel this time. Entering Norfolk Harbor and staying far enough away from the Naval Base is fairly straight forward. There is plenty of water all around, the channels are well marked, and you just need to be aware of commercial traffic. There is a No Wake Zone on the Elizabeth River that begins at Red #32. And it is just as well, because there is lots to see so you might as well slow down and enjoy the trip.

We pulled into Tidewater Yacht Marina which is directly across the river from Downtown Norfolk. What a neat place. Beautiful marina with wonderful amenities. We hung out with the crew of Gimme Time and swapped stories and then took their small boat across the river to the Waterside District for dinner! The moon was full and the views from the water were spectacular.

Tomorrow is a day in port, so we are going to see the USS Wisconsin. More later.

Jaybeaux

 

[Gimme Time]

Gimme Time......I just saw this post this morning (Tuesday). I'm so glad it all worked out. It was a blast hanging out and sharing a meal with you and the Admiral. Your hospitality is unmatched!

Jaybeaux

Twas nice meeting you all and having a nice dinner. Will certainly catch up with ya again!

 

[Jaybeaux]

Random pics from the trip so far....
Sunrise at Coles Point

Ocean going Tug

 

[Mikemapva]

Looks like a great trip and great pics!

Wanted to give a shout out to Fairfax Yacht Club for winning the Float In competition at Coles Point! This makes the 4th year in a row.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Pictures from Norfolk & Portsmouth

 

[brewster16]

Jay.....Don't leave us hangin'??????

 

[Jaybeaux]

Tidewater Yacht to York River Yacht Haven: Portsmouth to York River.

A beautiful day, calm winds, and calm seas.

York River Yacht Haven is a beautiful Marina with a wonderful Ships Store. There is a restaurant on site as well as a swimming pool. While it was VERY hot, we had a wonderful time. The jellyfish were bad, and you had to stay vigilant in watching your Air Conditioner strainers.

On Friday (7/19) we set sail for Coles Point to participate in the Potomac River Yacht Club Association's annual Float-In. There were over 55 boats in attendance.

Our sail home was uneventful as well. When we pass Quantico (last picture), we are close to home!

For the trip, we traveled 420 miles, and burned 480 gallons of fuel. We put 24.7 hours on the engines. The average price for fuel was $3.05, with the high being $3.50. Average burn rate was 19.6 gph, and fuel economy was 0.87 mpg. We were in a slip for a total of 9 nights spending $735.

For our first big trip like this, I can honestly say that it was a HUGE success. The Admiral and I are already talking about the next one. Oh, and she had me lookinig at bigger boat the other evening!

Jaybeaux