Velocir makes 98 miles in 14 hours

We had waited in Old Point Comfort, VA two days for good weather.  It would take us three days (140ish miles) and realistically the weather didn’t look good for the entire week.  Our family had planned a party and relatives were coming- oh  no!

It was a tough to be so close but yet so far.  We’d gone out and come back one morning when NOAA called for S  10-15 knots but it was ENE 25 knots all day. With 4 ft choppy swell on our beam, Velocir couldn’t make much speed and we were getting tossed around, so it wasn’t worth it.

The next day the wind finally turned S 25-30 knots.  A bit rough for Velocir, but we were headed N so the angle to the waves was okay.  We put up our main with a reef in it, kept the engine going and let out a scrap on genoa that keeps us from rolling in heavy seas downwind.  We were screaming down the bay at 7.5 knots the whole day!!!!  From 6AM to 8PM we made 98 miles to Solomons, MD.  Quite a feat for us and a distance we’d thought would take two days.

The Chesapeake is fun because instead of bouys our new marks are historic lighthouses.

Amelia saw some major commercial fishing on the Chesapeake Bay near the entrance to the Rappahannock that she didn’t know existed.  There were three massive blue fishing trawlers (like you would see in Alaska).  Bigger than shrimping trawlers, probably over 150 ft.  They were doing circles off the channel, which was very confusing to us and other cruisers around us.  Many people tried to call them on the radio but they did not respond.

As we got closer, Amelia realized each huge trawler was momma boat to two 30 foot silver fishing boats that were open-deck and had two giant 20 foot cranes on deck.  The cranes supported giant nets, and the two smaller fishing boats would circle around dropping the nets and picking them up again, while the huge trawler circled them. (Three groups of momma trawler with 2 crane boats)

To complete the whole process, two white planes circled them in the sky the whole time, obviously a part of the fleet.  Amelia was surprised this kind of fishing went on in the Bay?!?  Also worried because she spotted a sea turtle nearby.

We made it to Solomons, MD with an hour of daylight left to spare, staying at a friend’s dock.  Our last day is tomorrow!!!!