05-29-09 Deltaville, VA

Rick writes: We made the easy 37.5 mile journey from Yorktown to Deltaville, VA. Deltaville is a very old sea town. They have 800 permanent residents and over 3000 boats here. There are 6-7 marinas, mostly all full service. There are 5 sail and canvas shops in town. They have 2 West Marine stores, about 4 blocks apart. Almost every store has something to do with boats. Most of the restaurants will send a car for you and after you eat, take you back to the boat. All in all, a sleepy little town with a nautical character. One of our dockmates, also a looper, from Memphis TN, just happens to have taught at St Andrews when I did, back in 1969. It really is a small world.

Since there is so little to report today, let me digress a bit on an important topic. When we left Great Bridge to go to Yorktown, we discovered that we did not have a trail or route on our GPS chartplotter from Portsmouth to Yorktown. It had been erased or something. The Chesapeake is a big body of water and with so many markers and buoys, it is easy to get lost. What could we do?? We got our out CHARTS, marked the route and proceeded with confidence. This incident underlines why the Power Squadron teaches to have charts on board at all times. If you are out of sight of your house, you need charts. GPS is a wonderful tool, but there can be malfunctions or interruptions. Getting lost in the Cheaspeake Bay will ruin your day…….

Tomorrow, Solomons Island..