Log #47 - Nansemond-Warrick-Deep Creek - September 3-4, 2006

So, Friday I watched it rain. Saturday it was still windy and I had to do some cleanup after the storm. By Sunday I was stir crazy! I left early Sunday for my usual overnight on the Nansemond River. I sailed virtually all the way - about 15 miles and very pleasant. I arrived at my usual anchorage but it looked different with more snags than I remember - maybe due to the storm? Also, the wind came up again and I decided that where I was too exposed for the wind conditions. It's hard to sleep when waves are slapping up against the hull - it makes a surprisingly loud noise. I moved to a better protected anchorage near the Sleepy Hole golf course. When I cut the engine I could hear music in the distance - it seemed to be coming from a large "fancy" house near the golf course. I think the music was being carried by the wind because it would drift in and out. It wasn't loud - just background music. I decided to stay put and hope they would tone it down around bedtime - they did. At least I was so zonked out I never heard it again.

I got up early the next morning and on the spur of the moment decided to head over to the Warrick River to check out Deep Creek since I'd never been there before. I was glad I did - a lot watermen were working out of this creek. See the pictures below. There were also several fuel docks - nice to know! The harbor there was pretty small and I didn't consider it a good anchorage but it was extremely well protected and I'll keep it in mind if I ever need to duck in to get out of the weather.

After checking out Deep Creek I headed up the Warrick. This was old stomping ground when I was trailer but at that time I wasn't looking to anchor on the river so I decided to check it out from that respect. It seemed to me that there were lots of good places to anchor out. It is very pretty because Fort Eustis is on my side and so all of the land is undeveloped - I'll definitely come back.

At this time it was 1 PM and according to my GPS it was 18 miles back to my slip as the crow flies! I thought - whoa I'd better get a move on. Unfortunately, I had to head dead into the wind to get back AND the tide was against me. I decided that I had to motor to get back before dark. So, I started motoring back - I raised the main sail and motor sailed (tacking somewhat) but I made great progress averaging 6 3/4 mph! At the Monitor Merrimack Bridge the wind really kicked up to about 15 mph and whitecaps formed. At the M&M the waves really kicked up - about three foot seas - I experimented with a few different sail combinations and the ride was pretty good but I couldn't make any progress. Since I was going against the tide and the rough seas I wasn't able to point to well probably only about 120 degrees - pretty bad I know. There wasn't any way I was going to make it back before dark if I kept this up. So, I dropped all sail and headed pretty much directly into the waves and proceeded, at a slow bell (3 to 3 1/2 mph) directly to my destination. About half way there the wind dropped to about 10 mph and I was able to kick it up to over 4 mph. But the spray was really coming over the bow and I was soaked by the time I got back. I reached the doc about 5:30 pm - not too bad. But, I was pretty tired and ready to get home. I called Kerrie and she said that roast beef was ready and that sounded good!

A good sail - lots of different situations. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it - it was fun.

Here are the wind speeds on the trip back. Yep, it turned out that it was pretty brisk.

Track up Deep Creek and into the Warrick River itself.

Here is the track of the cruise - GPS says 62 miles. I turned off my GPS about three miles out so I'd say the total trip was 65 miles.