Spent the weekend (Saturday 9/21, Sunday 9/22) in Deltaville, VA. Our slip provided a lovely view of the channel from our aft deck and salon. All week we watched about a dozen fishing charter boats leave port in the morning around 7:30ish and return in the afternoon around 3:00, there wasn’t much more boat traffic than that.

On Saturday morning the “pleasure craft” showed up going every which way. It looked like a four-lane freeway! That continued all day Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday morning the marina parking lot began filling up with folks unpacking cars and loading up dock carts. Most had driven one, two, three, or more, hours to get to the marina. They paraded down the dock to their boats and unloaded their stuff. After spending Saturday night and Sunday morning on their boats they loaded stuff back into dock carts and paraded back up the dock to their cars to head home.

Saturday evening Rhonda, Bruce, Michael and I had dinner with Sue and Bob from “What the Heck” and Brenda and Tyler from “Bottoms Up” who we called “weekenders”. We met up at the barbecue/picnic tables, cooked dinner and, again, had wonderful conversation. Sunday afternoon as they passed by us with their dock carts full, and two dogs each, we said bye and wished them a safe journey home. Hmmmm…. By 4:00 we had the marina all to ourselves again.

While the doggies and I enjoyed Sunday afternoon on the boat Michael joined our new dock mate Ed (just learning to sail his new-to-him sailboat) for a couple of hours sailing. They both enjoyed the day.

Monday (9/23) we woke to a beautiful morning, waited for high tide then about 9:00 released our lines and headed to Onanacock (pronounced “oh NANN-kock”). About ten minutes into the trip it started getting a little lumpy. About 30 minutes in we reached the Windmill light where is it got really lumpy with shallow water and the wind and waves on the starboard quarter. That got us rolling gunnel to gunnel and everything in the boat was getting tossed about, including yours truly. The waves were probably only three to four feet with occasional six footers, but they were close together making it very uncomfortable.  We’d go up a wave at about 7.4 knots and surf down it at around 10.6 knots – ride em’ cowboy! Michael and Otto did an excellent job but it was a very long four-hour trip. The entrance to Onancock was beautiful, serene and a welcome sight.

Arriving at Onancock Wharf and Marina around 1:00 we put the boat back together then went to Mallards (the on-site restaurant) but they were not dog friendly, so we ordered to-go and ate on the boat. We enjoyed just sitting in the calm and peaceful marina.

On our walk-about later in the day we found the town just a short walk up the hill through a residential neighborhood with beautifully restored homes and manicured lawns. The business end of the town itself is compact, consisting of essentially two streets with an abundance of tastefully restored and maintained buildings. Although most were closed because today is Monday! There’s not a grocery within walking distance but there is a list of volunteers you can call and they will drive you. How friendly is that?

We are planning to leave in the morning for the Island of Tangiers. Will keep you posted.