Sailing the Chesapeake: Jackson Creek, Deltaville part 2

July 27-28, 2014

It was raining in Jackson Creek when we woke up the next morning, and the weather did not look good for Tom and Barbara's scheduled departure. Barbara had to be at work the next day, though Toms' summer schedule is a bit more flexible.

They dinghied in to the Boatyard and spoke with the weekend marina manager to discuss their options. In a perfect example of Southern hospitality, the manager's wife offered to give Barbara a ride to her car in Irvington. Tom and their dog Jenny would stay aboard Tortuga's Lie and wait for a better weather window to head back to their marina on the Yeocomico River.

The Deltaville Boatyard and Marina are very accommodating to transients -- for a modest daily, weekly, or monthly fee you can have full access to the marina's facilities including: internet, showers, swimming pool, lounge, bicycles, courtesy car, picnic and grilling area, community garden, etc.

Another example of southern hospitality: the community garden at the Deltaville Marina -- tomatoes, basil, lettuce, mint, chives, and more "for everyone to enjoy"

We paid the daily rate of $11 per person, used the showers and said our goodbyes to Barbara as she headed off to Irvington.

After we cleaned up and the rain subsided, we wandered around the marina and met Joe and Buster -- a retired military vet and his 6-year old American Bulldog. They were also anchored in the creek, staying aboard a Tartan 27 that Joe recently purchased and was preparing to restore. Joe and Buster were an eclectic, free-spirited pair, and the subjects of a series of children's books loosely chronicling their adventures on the Bay. Joe was kind enough to give us author-signed copies of the first two books in the series to share with our niece: The Bridge Troll and the Water Nymphs, and The Bridge Troll and the Church Lady.

The Bridge Troll series -- affectionately known as the Chronicles of Joe and Buster

Once Buster and Jenny were done playing, it was time to bid farewell to Joe and Buster, and for us to explore Deltaville.

Joe and Buster heading off on their next adventure

Bill, Tom, and I took advantage of the courtesy car and did some light provisioning at the local grocery store, and stopped at Nauti Nell's collectable/nautical consignment shop to see if there were any treasures we needed aboard Phoenix. After exploring a bit more by car, we bicycled around town and checked out the other local marinas. We had happy hour at The Railway (formerly Cocomo's), a popular local hangout. The new Railway menu has more fried food offerings that its predecessor, but the local charm is still there.

Later that evening, they were calling for more storms so we let out another 20' of chain, but the storms never materialized. We woke up the next morning to beautiful clear skies and 10-15 knots out of the west. It would have been perfect sailing weather, but we opted for another play day.

Tom and Bill went back into town in the morning while I caught up on some work and cooked up the rest of our homemade pita bread. When the boys returned Bill went out crabbing. Unfortunately the crabs aren't running well anywhere in the Bay this year, so he was lucky to catch 4 -- just the right amount for crab salad sandwiches with fresh pita bread!

After lunch, we went swimming at the sandy point below R10.

Jackson Creek Anchorage

Jenny, Tom and Bill hanging out on the beach

Jenny had a blast playing fetch in the shallow water

Tom came over for cocktails and we had a quiet evening while enjoying a late dinner in the cockpit. Shortly after Tom returned to Tortuga's Lie, the winds picked up and blew 20-27 knots all night long! This made for a bouncy anchorage, but our Rutland wind generator was cranking away, then regulating as our battery bank was fully charged! Many people scoff at the Rutland's relatively low output, but mounted mid-mizzen, our Rutland 913 is very quiet and does an excellent job of keeping our batteries topped off.

The next morning it was time to say goodbye to Tom and Jenny and head off to our next destination: Mobjack Bay.