Sunday, October 19, 2008

Day 5, October 18, 2008: Reedville, VA - Deltaville, VA

Day 5, October 18, 2008: Reedville, VA - Deltaville, VA

Today was my first experience with really big wind and waves. We left Reedville with light winds, but once we got into open water, winds went up to about 20 knots with gusts of 25 knots.

After initially motoring, we decided to switch to just the reefed-in jib. This actually smoothed out the ride somewhat, but it was still very rough going. The winds and waves were behind us, so it could have been much worse, but I was starting to feel a little bit queasy by the time we arrived at Deltaville. The weather was overcast but not rainy.

At some point I smashed my hand against the winch, because as we tacked and I unwrapped the starboard jib sheet from the winch, the force on the line took off and took my hand with it. I thought I was OK at the time, but now my index finger knuckle is really tender.

The trip to Deltaville seemed very long; I think all of us were very ready to get into port and settle down. Unfortunately, when we arrived, they did not have any slips available, so we anchored just off the docks and had a late lunch. Although the wind was still blowing hard, the waves were not bad at all in the dock area. Jack and I sat around for a while and swapped stories about Xerox and 360Works while we munched on cheese, crackers, and M&M's. The good news is, the dock called us and told us that they were closing and that we could dock overnight at their fuel dock, as long as we were out by 8:00 am. We tied up to the fuel dock and hooked up for water and power.

The grocery store was about 2 miles away, but they have bikes that they lend out at the marina, so I rode to the store and picked up groceries that we need. When I got back, we skipped a 'real' dinner and just had some cherry pie from the grocery store, because we were still stuffed from M&M's!

That night, I brainstormed with Jack on ideas for an iPhone boating application. We worked together on creating a crude mockup in FileMaker to let you view weather, tides, marine charts, NOAA bouys, and marinas all from the iPhone. Another new thing to learn! It was eerie to hear the wind literally howling all around us, which lulled me to sleep that night.

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