Portsmouth

We made it to Portsmouth, Virginia just after dark yesterday. We'd anchored in Willoughby Bay the night before -- not recommended, see below -- after a great trip down from Fishing Bay. We sailed almost the entire day and the wind vane worked great too. I'd bought some extra locking nuts and readjusted the arm at Solomons, and that made all the difference.

However, the trip over from Willoughby Bay turned out to be an all day ordeal -- should have taken under three hours -- ring a bell? First, the wind was already gusting to 20, and had been all night. The forecast called for 35 knot gusts from the west in the afternoon, so I wanted to get out while the getting was good.

So this time, I tied in a double reef first, then raised the main so she's sail to anchor, making it easier to pull in the chain. That part went well, and we were underway by 0915 -- plenty of time to get into the Elizabeth River and to the marina before it got ugly, or so I thought.

We ran aground at the north end of the Willighby channel about 30 minutes later. The chart shows a channel of about 10 feet, and most of it is. However, the north end has shoaled and is really only 2.5 -- I draw 5. There is a note at the bottom if the chart that alludes to this, but I failed to notice it until too late. There's also an additional green buoy right in the middle of the channel -- I guess that should have been a clue.

I called the Coast Guard on 16, and asked them to contact Tow Boat US, but they never did. I finally called the marina -- I still had their number in my phone -- and they called them for me. Otherwise, I'd still be there. I've lost a lot of respect for the Coast Guard.

Apparently, the watch stander has a form she needs to fill out and won't actually do anything for you until she's got all the boxes filed in. I grounded a little after high tide, so the 30 minute delay only made maters worse as the water got shallower.

They finally got me off at around 1500. At that point, I was taking 35 knot gusts and heavy seas, 3-5', on the beam. The waves are what finally helped the tow boat get me off. Actually, it was the second boat, the first one lost his engine after about an hour, and we had to wait another half hour for the second one to arrive. His tow line was old and parted twice before he got us off.

Then we had to motor directly into to 35 knot gusts for an hour to get into the river. It was rougher than what we'd experienced in the mouth of Delaware Bay, so I was expecting to loose the engine at any moment. However, she ran flawlessly all day, so hopefully those problems are behind us.

I'll have more to say about the Coast Guard later.