BellaGatto Cruising: WEEK 6 LOG – Norfolk, Virginia to Deltaville, Virginia

Only about 60 miles of forward progress this week, but we spent 4 days at the American Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) rendezvous in Norfolk and also a couple of days here in Deltaville getting our leaky drive shaft seals fixed.

The ALGCA rendezvous is part dock party and part educational seminars with over 200 people attending. We attended sessions on the upcoming route segments like the Chesapeake, the Hudson River, and the Canadian canal systems, all given by locals to each area. Another highlight of the rendezvous is the “looper crawl” where people open up their boats for tours by the rest of the membership. Besides getting to look at a lot of boats (most of them bigger and more expensive than ours) we picked up some good ideas on organization, storage, and maintenance – all challenges for any long trip on a small boat.

2019 AGCLA Rendezvous (Photo Credit AGCLA)

Heavy rains gave way to this!

Selfie Station (Photo Credit: Gregg Manson)

By the end of the sessions we were having information overload and were more than ready to get back on the trail. It turns out the boatyard in Chesapeake City could not get us worked on in a timely fashion, so we decided to push on with our leaky shaft seal a little farther. Leaving around noon on Thursday, we passed through giant yards with what seemed like every navy ship in the world plus half the civilian ones and stuck our nose out into a choppy Chesapeake Bay and ran about 25 miles north and anchored at a little spot called Back Creek, just south of the mouth of the York River. It was the exact opposite of Norfolk – quiet, calm, and serene. It felt really good to be at anchor again after all those nights in marinas. We got up early the next morning and shoved off for the 30 mile run to Deltaville, where we are cooling our heels at the Deltaville Boat Yard and Marina waiting for our haulout on Monday.

Two large ships and several more behind us as we leave Norfolk!

Navy ships everywhere in Norfolk

Back Creek Anchorage upon arrival

Sunrise looking toward the Chesapeake after a beautiful night at anchor

Deltaville is a pleasant little town with a cool maritime museum and it is having its annual seafood festival while we are here, so not a bad place at all to be stuck for a couple of days. When we get back in the water Monday afternoon, we plan to make up for missed time with a couple of long runs to Solomons and then to Annapolis. We know we are skipping past some really great places, but we will be back this way again next year.