Onancock and Tangier Island

 After 5 days in Cape Charles, the wind finally dropped and we were able to get away further north into the Chesapeake.  We occupied our last couple of days puttering away on maintenance projects in the morning, and exploring/sightseeing in the afternoon. Although the marina was pleasant enough, 5 days is a little much for a place like Cape Charles.

Our plans were to meet friends Dan and Lori McConvey in Cambridge, but that was going to be an 11 hour run north and we just weren't ready for that long a day, with this still only being our 4th day underway.  We had thought of course that we would be there in plenty of time, but the weather delay was much greater than anticipated.  So we agreed to meet our friends in Onancock, about a 40 mile or 5 hour run north.  It was a beautiful day with warm temps and light winds.  

We had met a couple from Indiana at Cape Charles and they were travelling to Onancock the same day, after a similar weather hold, and we agreed to meet them for dinner that night.  A very nice retired couple, part way through a Great Loop trip having started in Florida, they were going to be completing this stage just further up the Bay. We had a great discussion at dinner about the political divide in both the US and Canada, and since he was a Doctor, perspectives on the health care systems. They left the next day in calm conditions while we awaited the arrival of Dan and Lori later that day. 

We had a good day with clean up in the morning,  repairing a flat tire on one of the bikes, and then exploring the beautiful small town of Onancock, and riding our bikes to the local grocery store about 3 miles distant. 

Onancock was established in 1680, and has many fine old homes on large properties off its few commercial streets.  The marina is one of the more active areas of town, and the town seems to be doing a good job of reinventing itself as an artist/tourist destination. 

Dan and Lori arrived late afternoon, and Dan made a beautiful dinner for us,and we enjoyed a very nice bottle of wine that he had brought from a very recent Rhone river cruise. 

The next day dawned fair and warm for a planned trip to Tangier Island.  We had cruised thru this island two years ago but hadn't stopped, and wanted to return to visit.  Tangier is a remote island in the middle of the Bay, that is home to people who make their living off the water. The island was settled in the 1700's, and the residents still speak with an allegedly Elizabethan era accent, although the locals we talked to just sounded like Virginia country accents to me.  

One very notable aspect of the history of the island is the British built a fort in the early 1800's and staged the assault on Washington in 1814 that resulted in the burning of the Capital and the White House.  

The population at its peak was more than 1000, but has now declined to about 400.  The island is very low land, with the highest point being not more than a couple of feet above high water.  The result is that a lot of buildings near the shore are on stilts, and those "inland" are in very wet ground.  One very unusual aspect is that they like to keep their families close, with many homes having family graves in their front yards.

The demographics of the island are reflected in the fact that roughly 10% of the population has died in the past 2 years.  The marina has been owned by the same man, George Parks, for 60 years, and at 86 he is a real character.  We walked the loop of the island which took about 2 hours, and very little was open, being a Friday.  A few shops did open for the arrival of the small ferry that services the island.

The day was not without a bit of drama, despite the calm cruising conditions.  On our way to Tangier, given the calm conditions I thought it was a good time to run the boat at higher speed, as this is good to warm the main engines up well and burn out the carbon that accumulates while running at the lower speeds that we do.  After a few minutes at 16 knots, I noticed that the bilge pump lights were shining, indicating that they were running, so I went below to check out why this might be. 

Lifting the hatch to the engine room, I saw that the raw water intake and strainer for the AC pump had blown its cap, and water was gushing into the engine room.  So I immediately brought the engines back to idle, went below and close the valve on the seacock of the water intake, stopping the inflow of water.  The bilge pumps evacuated all the water promptly, so the drama was over quickly.  Dan and Lori didn't seem very distressed by it, anyway. Dan even dove of the boat for a swim in the Bay on our return trip, and declared it quite nice, which was probably in the low 70's.

It appears as though the threads had worn from age and although capable of holding at slow speed, the added pressure of running at high speed, since this water intake sits pretty much at the bottom of the hull, caused the strainer cap to fail.  The question now is whether we can find a replacement part for this  seacock/strainer unit, or whether we will have to install a complete new unit, which will require having the boat hauled again.  So far, things are looking good.  I sent a note to the company who manufactures these units, Groco, on Saturday, and heard back from a technician Saturday night!  And disassembly of the unit today confirmed the part numbers, which they appear to have in stock.  

The only implication of waiting for the parts is that we can't run the AC. Two days ago that would have been an issue as it was 85F.  Last night a cold front came thru about 6, and the temperature declined 20 degrees.  This was accompanied by very strong winds, which continue to blow today, and are forecast for the next two days as well.  So we sit in another harbor for what looks like 5 days before getting underway mid-week coming. 

Dan and Lori departed mid-afternoon, before the weather changed, for the 5 hour drive back to their home.  We did take advantage of their car for a provisioning run, which was much appreciated. Although the weekend wasn't as long or quite as successful in seeing some other towns in the upper Bay area, we really enjoyed their company. 

Our plans are still to get up to the Cambridge/Oxford/St Michael's area for a week or so before starting our trek south.  The wind here has really been an eye opener to us.  We have realized that we probably have days on the ICW of similar winds, but in the very protected waters it just isn't an issue for us.  Sometimes, on large river entrance crossings or sounds like the Albermarle, we have to plan our crossings, but largely we travel unimpeded by the weather.  I will be watching the weather forecasts very closely for the next 10 days and making the best of the good days.