SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

Chesapeake trip in May

9K views 56 replies 15 participants last post by  willyd 
#1 ·
I’m thinking of making a 2-3 week cruise down the Chesapeake and up the James river this May in my Pacific Seacraft 25. She’s minimally equipped: tiller steering, porta potty, compass & charts, hank-on foresails. Interested persons should bring their own gear and are responsible for their transportation to and from the boat.

Interested crew should:
- know how to read a nautical chart and
- steer in a straight line (toward the desired point)
- be able to stand night watches
- know how to use the two-way radio
- be willing to do sail changes in all conditions
- cook well
- possess RSA certificate or equivalent
- be physically fit, mentally awake, morally straight, etc.
- be ready to jump overboard and push the boat off of sandbars should we run aground
- not pee on the anchor or rudder
- not throw up on either of the above or in the cabin
- not run with scissors
- or play with matches
- not get seasick
- not get sunburned
- like biting insects
- warn the captain if the boom is about to hit him in the head
- be ready to light the captain’s pipe when it goes out
- wake up the captain should he fall asleep during his watch
- not hang laundry from the lifelines
- be able to repair complicated electronics, including radar, even though there are none on board
- have a knowledge of local Indian languages (e.g., Powhatan)
- not have voted for anyone before Eisenhower
- play a musical instrument
- be mindful of proper idiom and register when speaking with the captain
- write good poetry and be ready to recite a daily poem about how enjoyably the trip is going

I will provide all the food (pop-tarts & non-alcoholic beer, or ramen & gatorade, alternately, with dollar store fig bars for dessert) unless you bring your own and it doesn’t require cooking or leave grease marks on the chart table.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Snoring is okay if it's used constructively, e.g., to wake the captain during his watch. Otherwise, no.

I see that I was unclear on at least one point: "like biting insects" should read "like insects that bite."
 
#7 · (Edited)
'like biting insects' - make mine a Praying Mantis, at least it could bite back!

Willy,
BubbleHead is in your immediate vicinity and sounds potentially interested. He's so close he could probably arrange to meet you for a beer/coffee in Annapolis or nearby. It is a good idea to know what kind of people one would be signing on with prior to a trip of your proposed duration.
In fact I'd guess it is going to be difficult to find crew that will be free for the entire length of your proposed trip.
Sounds like fun though.

What is wrong with "pissing on the rudder"?
And what about the 'menu'? Are you an omnivore, vegetarian or vegan?
 
#8 ·
He may be close, but he sounds kind of angry. Plus, I'd rather go for a short sail beforehand than have coffee or beer. It's cheaper, and I've found a lot of people (e.g., ones who've only taken ASA courses) can't steer worth a darn. And the crew should want to check the boat for holes and see what kind of a sailor I am. Perhaps I can't steer worth a darn, either.

I'm not sure why I'd pay someone to go sailing with them - any more than I'd pay someone to go on a hiking or bicycle trip together. If I find crew that can't do the whole trip, then one leg is fine. The only problem with doing that on the Chesapeake is that, especially once you cross the mouth of the Potomac, the distances by car to get back home for most people increase by 100 miles. One alternative would be to put crew ashore with an axe, some matches, and package of fig bars, but they probably wouldn't be there to pick up on the way back.
 
#9 ·
Plus, I'd rather go for a short sail beforehand than have coffee or beer. It's cheaper, and I've found a lot of people (e.g., ones who've only taken ASA courses) can't steer worth a darn. And the crew should want to check the boat for holes and see what kind of a sailor I am. Perhaps I can't steer worth a darn, either.
How are poor people who were only able to take some ASA courses supposed to get more experience?

Since you're going to be staying in rivers, it shouldn't matter much if the boat has a few holes :)
 
#12 ·
I wanted to do the James since I'd like to see some of the plantations from the water and explore those squiggly areas upstream from Hopewell.

The York river looks very straight and full of shoals. Have you cruised up the York? How was it?

I'd also like to hear from anyone that's sailed straight down the bay in May. The wind data I've found shows very predominant southerly winds, which sounds like a lot of beating into wind and waves while going south. Has this been anyone's experience?
 
#13 ·
Well, to me, the York is a prettier river. But if it's plantations you are after, then by all means check out the James. The James is much wider, but still has a fairly narrow navigable channel with a lot of tug and barge traffic to watch out for. You will have to be careful approaching close to shore in many areas due to shoals and fish traps. Don't let me scare you off of it though, there is a lot to see.

We spent last Labor Day weekend anchored off of Chippokes State Park, which is located in the bend just opposite Jamestown. It's an old plantation that has been turned into a park. Anchoring is free, and you can use the campground showers. They do tours of the old plantation house and that sort of thing.

Smithfield is also nice. It is located up the Pagan River, which branches off of the James just past the James River Bridge. The Pagan has a narrow twisty channel with a lot of current on the tide changes, so it provides a little adventure. The old town is good for a day of walking and sightseeing. The do a lot of music festivals and stuff there too, so check the events calendar for the days you'll be in the area to see if anything looks good to you. You can anchor in the river off of the marina and use the marina dinghy dock and showers for a small fee if you don't want to stay in the marina proper. Just be aware of the current, it really rips through there on the tide changes.

For the high rollers, you can stay in the marina at Kingsmill in Williamsburg. We've never stayed there, but have been told that it is very nice with access to all the amenities at Kingsmill plus hourly buses running to Busch Gardens.

Although much diminished from its heyday, the Ghost Fleet is still there in the James and is fun to sail past.

Have fun and let me know if you have any specific questions for me. Happy to help. I almost never find anybody on the forums coming down to the lower bay unless they are passing through Norfolk to the ICW, so it's good to have somebody coming down just to check it out.

Best regards,

Chris
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the link, that's cool to see what has changed and what has stayed the same in the last 100 years. Even back then the Pagan river channel was narrow and crooked!

Jamestown Island is as far up the river as we have ever ventured, so I don't have any first hand information beyond that. I would like to make the trip all the way up to Richmond one of these days, but Chippokes is a favorite with my kids, so we usually don't get beyond that.

One other thing I should have mentioned in the earlier post is that being wide and fairly shallow, it doesn't take much wind to kick up a nasty chop on the James. I think the river narrows down past Jamestown, so it might not be as big of an issue up there.
 
#17 ·
Hey, so do I. I'm getting more excited about this trip as time goes on. I looked at some of your other posts, and if you're looking for tiller time, this may be your trip. If you're looking to motor between yacht clubs and waterfront restaurants, it ain't. The only non-emergency motoring I anticipate is MAYBE making it up river from City Point to Richmond, if we get that far, etc., etc. My boat is a double ender and only has a small outboard, and even that hits the rudder if you're not careful, so I avoid using it. I may not even bring it along at all.

But aren't you in one of those flat states in the middle of the country? How would you get out here?

Oh, and one other rule comes to mind: no listening to headphones while on watch. Bad idea.

You also started a thread on getting a bluewater boat for under $10,000. Check out the trip a couple did a few years ago in another Pacific Seacraft 25 - they sailed motorless from Hawaii to Australia in a boat nearly identical to mine except theirs had a full keel and my cabin is in much better shape. The photos are on Flickr.
 
#23 ·
I looked at some of your other posts, and if you're looking for tiller time, this may be your trip.
Oh the background check! But yeah that would be fine. I'm trying to get more sailing experience. Last fall I got ASA 103 at a sailing school Michigan.

Can your boat hold 3 people? I take it you're planning on sailing for most of the day and then dropping anchor or docking at a camp ground for the nights with the focus of being on looking at what's on shore and not getting anywhere that quickly.

If you're looking to motor between yacht clubs and waterfront restaurants, it ain't.
No, those are expensive!

But aren't you in one of those flat states in the middle of the country? How would you get out here?
I'm from Peoria, Illinois, I'm 23 and want to go sailing and have some of the related adventure. We have the Illinois river here. It's the usual situation where there are mostly motor boats who have to stay at the dock now because they can't afford gas. So yeah getting there is the hardest part. An advance purchase Greyhound ticket to Baltimore is $95.00. Is that close enough?

The Great Lakes are somewhat closer but sailing opportunities don't come up that often, as far as I know. I think I would have to travel to a coast for most sailing opportunities.

Oh, and one other rule comes to mind: no listening to headphones while on watch. Bad idea.
Not that I would do that, but does that go closer to the top of your list of rules or near the bottom next to needing to know native Indian languages?

Also, I assume RSA certificate is not related to encryption, so what is it?

You also started a thread on getting a bluewater boat for under $10,000.
Thanks for the information. I was thinking about what could be possible in the future if I got good sailing experience and some of the friends that I have who showed initial interest in such an adventure continue to be interested and could be severed from Facebook for more than a day. The odds of that happening aren't so high though.

I just finished going up the James and York rivers on Google Earth. Yeah it looks like you can't get past Richmond on the James. I saw more and more shoals the farther West I went. It looks like canoe and rafting area past that.

willyd said:
badsanta said:
Would you mind other boats taging along, sounds like something I would like to do.
Yes, I suppose, though I'm not sure how much "tagging" you will do - I'm pretty slow. And no sniggering at my paint job.
Maybe the person in the lead could by pull those behind with a rope or do you call that a "line"!

It would be great if this works out! There are probably others who are a lot closer though.
 
#25 ·
Willy,

Since you are going to have some time, one other thing you might want to do is stop in at Fort Monroe as you pass by. It will be on your right as you make the turn out of the bay and into Hampton Roads. You'll be able to see the fort and the Old Point Comfort Light when you make the turn. There is an anchorage and marina on your right just before you go through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. The whole thing used to be an Army base, but was recently turned over to the state. The old fort is a good place to spend a couple hours. They have a nice museum there. This is the place where the Union troops staged up before the famous Peninsula Campaign against Richmond in the Civil War. This is also where Jefferson Davis was temporarily held at the end of the war. You are allowed to anchor overnight in the basin there.

Once you cross the bridge tunnel, there is a channel immediately on your right that runs parallel to the bridge that will take you right into downtown Hampton. The city dock is free and just a few steps away from the Air and Space museum. The museum is not free, but it is a nice museum. If you've been spoiled by the Smithsonian, you can probably skip this one, but otherwise its nice.

Once into Hampton Roads proper, you can take a detour to the left past the Naval Base and up the Elizabeth River into Norfolk. You can anchor at Hospital Point for free and dinghy over to Waterside at Norfolk or Tidewater Yacht in Portsmouth. Norfolk has Nauticus, the National Maritime Museum, which is worth a visit. Between Norfolk and Portsmouth there are tons of bars and restaurants within walking distance of the water.

I'm always traveling with kids, so we hit all the museums. Just ignore me if you aren't into that kind of thing.

Chris
 
#29 ·
Willis/Chris - Many thanks for the information. That's a help.

Steel - Crew aren't allowed to wear shoes during the trip.

I've run out of NA Old Milwaukee - I'll try to find a replacement, perhaps Busch NA:
Fully brewed with finest natural ingredients, including a blend
of premium American hops, fine barley malt, cereal grains,
and pure water. After full fermentation and maturation, the
alcohol is gently removed to preserve the quality of the beer.
I'm not sure why it's important to "gently" remove the alcohol or what happens to it.

I'm also thinking of changing the breakfast menu to either pancakes or flapjacks, with blueberry syrup and coffee. Or maybe beef jerky and potato chips washed down with homemade Yoo-hoo. Can't decide.
 
#30 ·
inflatable deckhand wanted

Unable to find a committed living being to crew with me, I'd like to rent or borrow an inflatable crew member from anyone that has one. Can be either sex and I don't care if they smoke. No Tea Party members.
 
#36 ·
I hope you go through with the trip, crew or not. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about the James. I would love to go with you, but I've got 2 boys playing baseball and one in martial arts that take up all my free time running between practices and games.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top