Chesapeake Chase Days 41-42: Wormley Creek at Yorktown
July 22, 2022
Today’s destination was Wormley Creek Marina in Yorktown. Originally, we were hoping to anchor out in Mobjack Bay, but the heat was getting to all of us. We were all up early enough and planned to be underway by 9:00 AM.
Remember the bakery last night? The Smith brothers think alike on some things – like pastries. While Fred, Debbi, and I took care of preparations for departing, Jess went to the bakery and returned with a box full of wonderful, delicious crullers, cinnamon buns, donuts, and an éclair for Debbi. Thank you, Jess!!
We were still able to get underway by just after 9:00 AM. Today on the water was uneventful (whew!) but hot! We had to call Wormley Creek Marina on the phone, since they did not answer on VHS. We got all the information we needed on the phone. It was a very small marina with odd hours and tucked in off the main waterway. It appeared their primary focus was the boat yard that the marina was part of.
The slip we had to fit in was not much wider than the boat, so getting in was tricky. Fenders were a great invention for boaters. There were no dock hands to help us, but we had a great crew and were secure by 4:30 PM. The best part about this marina was the pool. We were the only transients, so we had the pool all to ourselves, and we needed it! By the time we were able to get into the pool (and shower after), the sun was no longer beating down directly on the pool. We also discovered two jet streams in the pool which provided some massaging for those of us who needed that.
The evening ended with another game of Skip Bo and watching the sunset–with AC!
Captain’s Comments: More Flexibility
It was a 54-mile journey today, crossing the south end of Chesapeake Bay from Onancock on the east to York River on the west. For the record, it took about 8 hours and 20 gallons of diesel, dock to dock.
Today we continued to demonstrate our commitment to maximum flexibility.
Our first flexibility challenge was fitting into our assigned slip at Wormley Creek Marina. I had used dockwa.com to make the marina reservation and, in theory, when assigning a slip, the marina takes into account the 14′ 2″ beam (width) of our boat that we provided through the dockwa.com application. Maybe they did, but when I started to back in, it looked pretty narrow.
The slip was 15′ wide. The marina had mounted 6″ ball fenders along the pier on one side, and by the time we hung our 8″ fenders on the posts on the other side, we had used up more than 15′. Fortunately, the finger pier had enough flexibility in the mount around its post that we could spread it a few inches further apart. We were in.
The next flexibility challenge was our schedule. Our previous plan had been to stay two nights in Norfolk (Saturday and Sunday), after anchoring Friday night along the way. We had already changed the anchoring plan so we could have Friday night AC at the Wormley Creek Marina.
Jess and Debbi had reservations in a downtown Norfolk hotel for Sunday night to help ensure they got to the airport for their flight Monday morning. The downtown Norfolk marina we wanted to stay in–convenient to the motel for Jess and Debbi–was closed Saturday for a fund-raising event, so I had made reservations in a different marina across the river for Saturday night. We would then move to the downtown Norfolk marina early Sunday to allow us to enjoy the Norfolk sights within easy walking distance and to go on a bike tour of Norfolk that Jess had purchased tickets for. Sounds pretty complicated.
After squeezing into our slip and checking out the Wormley Creek Marina amenities, we all decided instead of moving two times we would ask to stay one more night at the Wormley Creek Marina (no problem) and explore more of Yorktown on Saturday, then go directly to the Norfolk downtown marina (Waterside) on Sunday. And Jess canceled his bike tour tickets. Much simpler. Two points for flexibility.
July 23, 2022: Yorktown
Fred and I were up earlier than Debbi and Jess. He needed to fix the saloon window latch that had been broken since last year. It was not on his list of chores to do on this trip, but the window was opened accidentally yesterday, and the temporary repair came off completely. Now fixing it was critical. Adding to the problem was he could only repair it from the inside because there was only water on that side of the boat. It took many months to get the part, so if it dropped in the water, imagine the frustration on a trip such as it’s been so far!!
As usual, Captain Fred came up with a plan and it worked! He successfully replaced the part, (not without injury) and, as a precaution, asked us all not to open that window to give the adhesive time to cure (understandably).
We made plans to visit the Yorktown Battlefield after lunch. It is where the Siege of Yorktown took place. The battlefield is part of the Colonial National Historical Park. We used Uber to get there, but we found out that you really needed your own car to walk the battlefield. There were self-guided driving tour routes for a total of 16 miles.
The visitor center had a film and lots of displays with information about the siege and no ticks–and AC, so we were good! The siege began on September 28, 1781, and ended October19, 1781 when the British Army Lieutenant General, Charles Cornwallis, surrendered to the combined Continental and French Armies. The siege was the final battle of the war. Following this, the British Government negotiated an end to the war.
We walked from the visitor center down to Historic Yorktown, mainly to see the old homes and then get ice cream before we returned to the marina.
Jess called Uber again for the return trip. Unlike July 4th and our complicated ride situation, Uber did not cancel and arrived promptly. The driver was very friendly and pleasant. During the course of our conversation, Fred and I mentioned our troubles with Uber on July 4th. It turns out, she was the driver who made several attempts to get through the roadblocks and then gave up. Driving that day was such a challenge and she decided it wasn’t worth all the hassles. We don’t blame her at all and were glad to meet her.
It had been another hot day and we were ready for another dip in the pool and showers. We waited until the sun was down more. It was another good day for the Smith family.
Enjoy the pictures.
Captain’s Comments:
The window latch repair went well, mostly. I needed some black adhesive, which I purchased from the marina ship’s store. Unfortunately, it was expired and was starting to harden, but I extracted enough to complete the job.
More embarrassingly, when I needed a little extra height to access the window from the outside, I used the folding chair in the cockpit as a stepstool. My foot went through the fabric, resulting in a bruise (and use of icepacks from our first aid kit). For those of you who have had to endure any of my safety briefings in the past, please accept this apology for my complacency. The Admiral disposed of the chair in the trash on shore.
In any event, I appreciated Helmsman sending me the replacement latch.