Oct 13 2022 Exploring the lower Chesapeake

 Sun Oct 9   Bells Creek to Urbanna Town Dock - 28 miles

After a couple nights in our well protected anchorage up Bells Creek, we pulled anchor and headed to one of our old haunts - Urbanna, VA.  It's a very small town up the Rappahannock River on the port side after passing under the Rappahannock River Bridge. 

Rappahannock River Bridge

 It's got a narrow but well-marked and sufficiently deep entrance channel leading to a nice anchorage area and several marinas.   We stayed at the Urbanna Town Dock.   We had kept the original "As You Wish" here for several months when bringing it down the Chesapeake.  Super friendly and helpful staff.   IGA grocery a short walk away and several restaurants.  The town of less that 500 citizens is known for their annual Oyster Festival held the first Friday and Saturday of November when over 65,000 people converge on the town. Just a quick one night stay for us this trip.  

Journey for Oct 9

Mon Oct 10  Urbanna to Mobjack Bay and Put In Creek  - 52 miles

Another cool but calm and sunny morning so we bundled up and headed for the flybridge.  Nice cruising day although not too much to see other than passing 2 lighthouses - Wolf Trap Light and New Point Comfort Light. 

Wolf Trap Light

Point Comfort Light

I had originally picked an anchorage up the Severn Creek but after a bit more consulting of wind conditions for our 2 night stay we decided that going up the East River to a more secluded anchorage at Put In Bay would be better. Got a text that our friends Russ and Jax on InQuest  were  behind us and would be coming in to anchor too.  They were our primary boating buddies while doing the Great Loop and are working their way south after a summer up in Maine. 

InQuest at anchor 

 They were aware of our efforts in finding a new boat and were excited to see the new As You Wish.  Always great to see them, catch up and hear about their current adventures over docktales.  

Sunset at Put In Creek

They only stayed one night so we dropped the dingy on Tues and went exploring.  Nothing in particular - just tooling up and down several of the creeks, looking at houses and giving the dingy motor a little workout. 

Old plantation home and grist mill

Journey for Oct 10

Wed Oct 12  Put in Creek to Yorktown  -  24 miles

Pulled the anchor at 11 which allowed for a nice leisurely hot breakfast aboard.  Felt really late but we were planning for a 1:30 - 2:00  arrival at Yorktown to hit slack current.  Riverwalk Landing docks run parallel to the shore in deep water with up to a 3 kt flow. 

Sometimes we eat pretty good!
Avocado muffin with egg and tomatoes, fruit and juice.

 Nice waterfront area.  Couple shops and restaurants.  Free trolley takes you to multiple historical sites and battlefields in the National Park.  This is part of the historical triangle including Jamestown and Williamsburg.  Plenty of Revolutionary and Civil War history. Rainy day forecast for Thurs. so we'll stay at least until Fri. Worked out well as we needed to grab an Uber and hit the local Best Buy to return a defective tablet and get a new one.  Now I just need to reload all my navigation apps and maps.  We may extend our time here to do a bit more touristy things and catch the Sat farmer's market.

Journey for Oct 12