We have been enjoying getting to know the Chesapeake by land and by sea. The history of the Northern Neck and of Virginia is our new passion. But as we now live “on” the Loop, we are taking the time to enjoy our local waters. Most people make the mistake of rushing through the Chesapeake and miss so much of its beauty. We paused our loop to explore the many, many creeks and coves that have been recommended by people who definitely know what they are talking about. The Chesapeake Bay has a shoreline of 11,000 miles; that’s a lot to explore.
Our home port is at Urbanna Boatyard & Marina one of our favorite marinas in over 5500 miles. Its 20 minutes from home. We have been on the boat at least twice a month from March – October (a pretty enviable cruising season) but sometimes we just enjoy Urbanna and the creek that we see from our slip.
We enjoy watching the boats going in and out as they work their crab traps. Their boats are classic Chesapeake bay deadrises which are traditional fishing boats, single engine, shallow draft wooden hulls. There are also many “buy boats” which are larger wooden trawlers that the take the daily catch from the smaller boats and deliver to market. Most of the Buy Boats are historic and owned by museums. we don’t have to leave our slip to enjoy watching them unload their haul.
We have spent several nights on anchor getting to know the Eastern Branch of the Corotoman River since we live near it. We enjoy the short run across the Rappahannock River.
And the view just off of the Tides Inn is lovely, so we have gone back a few times.
We spent Labor Day at a concert in Yopps Cove. There are so many events for boaters you need to select which event to attend. Those cute boats are called Duffy’s – don’t you want one.
Sometimes coming back from Carters Creek we see a pod of dolphins and my lovely honkers flying over us.
