2019: Cape Charles VA

4/27/2019
Depart: Hampton Yacht Club 10:15
Arrive: Cape Charles Town Docks 1:15
Distance: 25 nm

Some folks we talked to last night at Happy Hour did not believe that we would be leaving today due to the predicted winds. Clark's response ... "You don't know us very well!" We waited a while to see if the winds would die down some and then left just after 10:00 to cross the Chesapeake Bay to go to Cape Charles.

We had some "chop" as we started across the bay but nothing too bad.

Choppy Waters around Thimble Shoals
Lighthouse on Chesapeake Bay 

Clark said it would get worse the further east we went since the "fetch" of the westerly wind would case turbulence on the bay. As it was, our stabilizers worked extra hard and still we rolled as waves coming on our beam hit the side of the boat. With the idea in mind that it would only get worse, I decided to make lunch a little on the early side to avoid too much rocking while trying to make sandwiches in the galley.

I don't normally have any difficulties with wave action on the boat, but today I felt a little off down below. After lunch I hurried back up top with Clark. Had I stayed below as usual I would have missed all the action that came over the VHF radio.

At approximately 12:30, we heard a Mayday call come on the radio. A man on a 40', blue-hulled boat announced that he had struck rocks near the Chesapeake Bay tunnel and was taking on water fast. The responding Coast Guard personnel asked him to try various things related to the rapidly rising water in his boat, but all attempts the owner made failed to reduce the water flow into the boat.

On our way west, we passed a military vessel, Gen. Frank Besson Jr., heading eastward. After hearing the longitude and latitude numbers, the Frank Besson, reported that they were approximately .7 miles from the vessel in distress and were on their way to assist. At about 0.5 nm away from the wreck, the Frank Besson said they could come no closer due to shallow water and asked the boat in distress to try to make way in their direction. After hearing that a rescue craft with a pump on board had been launched from the Frank Besson, we heard no more on the radio. Clark said that they must be too busy working the situation to be talking on the radio.

At 12:50 the Frank Besson reported to the Coast Guards that they now had 5 person on board their ship from the vessel in distress. They also reported that were attempting to tow the disabled vessel. From the discussion we gathered that the USCG did not want the boat to sink over the tunnel.

A short while later, we heard a report from the Frank Besson that they could not successfully tow the vessel. They told the coast guard that "water is coming over the gunnels. We have to let her go." AT 1:03 we heard them say that both the vessel and a large fender had both been cut free. The fender perhaps being used to mark where the vessel went down.

On a windy day with lots of wave action, it is sobering to hear the real-time story of a vessel going under. We knew exactly where the vessel ran into trouble. When we left the Fort Monroe anchorage, Clark gave the area around a similar tunnel a very wide berth as he had read that the rocks extend out from shore a lot further than one would expect. With the rough seas, the situation is worsened as the waves lift and drop the vessel.

So many people told us last night at happy hour, "You'll love Cape Charles!!!"  that we decided we better give it a look over. With the excitement of the sinking vessel behind us, I decided to look back through past blog entries to see if Clark and I had visited Cape Charles when we did the Great Loop. We did not remember being there, but low and behold I found a blog entry entitled "Cape Charles".

Based on that entry from July 2016, Cape Charles is not a place I would have chosen to visit twice. However, with so many folks telling us how delightful they find the town to be, we will have to give it a good going over to see what we must have missed the first time visiting.

We docked at the city docks at 1:15, but by the time I dragged Clark away from talking to the owner of a Mainship 43 docked near us, it was after 2:00 before we were on our bicycles to begin our tour. But first, we had to stop by the dockmaster's office to register. After that, I had a list of must-see places from our Hampton Yacht Club friends, so like a scavenger hunt, we set off to find them all.

Most of the shops and activity are on one main street through town. When we visited here in 2016, it was on a Tuesday and no people were around. What a difference it makes to come on a Saturday.

We rode our bikes to the corner near the library and locked them to a bike rack. Karen had told us we absolutely needed to visit the library that was once a bank to see the old architecture and vault. We arrived there at 2:20. The library closed at 2:00. I told Clark that if he hadn't spent so much time yapping on the docks, we would have gotten there in time to see the building!

#1 - See the Library

We decided to leave the bikes and walk through town. I cannot enjoy looking at the scenes around me when I am trying to steer my bike and not get killed by traffic. As we first walked towards the beach, Clark spied a gnarly old tree that he took an interest in.

Gnarly tree in Cape Charles, VA

I recognized the L-O-V-E sculpture on the beach from the entry in my July 2016 blog. I would not have remembered it otherwise.

I told Clark that the 2016 blog entry makes the LOVE sculpture look black not colored. The sun direction must have shadowed the picture. I told him to take it from the other direction and it would spell E-V-O-L instead.

After poking our toes (with our shoes on) in the sand, we turned and walked back into town. On the way we came to the second place on our list of places to see. The trouble with this recommendation, however, is that Clark does not drink alcohol and I don't drink when I am with just him. Ah well, it looks nice from the outside.

#2 - Visit Kelly's Gingernut Pub

A couple of people told us about the age old hardware store in town. Clark and I wandered in. The first thing Clark said was, "how does anyone find anything in here?" It was packed with all sorts of stuff.

#3 - Explore Watson's Hardware

Wooden Indian outside Watson's Hardware store

On our walk through town, we passed a few interesting sights not mentioned by our friends.

Historic Palace Theatre c. 1942
Architecture of building is an example of Art Deco style

It is a shame I no longer buy books (just Kindle ebooks) as I cannot store them on board the boat.

Cute cottage - now a book store

We had to read the sign over the golf cart rental place twice because we could not believe our eyes - "Free Beer w/ Rental". That sounded dangerous. Oh, I missed the "Root" over the "Beer". Ha ha ha!

Eye-catching cart rental place

For no apparent reason, it is not accessible by visitors, a train car sits on the edge of town.

Having seen the main drag on foot, we headed back to collect our bikes and stop in for some ice cream before continuing our tour of Cape Charles.

Interesting bathtub floor bed in town.

When we visited Cape Charles in 2016, the Brown Dog Ice Cream store was closed because it was Tuesday - the day they chose to close to make ice cream for the week. Today it was open. The sign said - Monday to Friday - closed, Saturday and Sunday - open 12:00 to 8:00. I later learned that the ice cream store will change to summer hours, i.e. open every day, on Memorial Day.

We still had not captured proof of finding the various places we were told to visit. The next place on the list, Drizzles, sells flavored oils, vinegars, and salts as well as cookbooks.

#4 - Visit Drizzles - A Tasting Shop

Having checked off the down town items on our scavenger hunt, we set off to explore the historic district of Cape Charles. On the way there we passed tree-lined streets and Central Park.

I chuckled when I saw Central Park. It did not quite compare to what I normally think of when I hear Central Park!

Nice fountain in Central Park 

The picturesque historic district of Cape Charles offered architecture ranging from 1836 to 1940 and has earned the area a "National Historic District" title. Homes vary in style including Victorian and Queen Anne styles, catalog homes ordered from Sears, and 1950-style ranch houses.

Besides homes, we found several churches in the same historic area.

Baptist Church

Emanuel Church

As we left the historic district, I followed Clark to another place on our "to-visit" list -- Rayfield's Pharmacy.  The pharmacy has a soda fountain and serves ice cream. We did not partake of any ice cream here this trip. That's only fair as we ate ice cream here in 2016 when we could not get any in town because the Brown Dog was closed.

#5 - Check out Rayfield's Pharmacy and Soda Fountain

Soda Fountain Juke Box

Next, Clark led me to the town's Welcome Center. On the way we passed a cute barber shop and saw the town's real cool water tower.

Tonight a "Low country shrimp boil" was held at the Welcome Center in Cape Charles. We had to tour "around" the preparations and setup in progress.

Tents set up for the Low Country Boil
Many pots in use to boil the shrimp

Railroad Car at Welcome Center

I called Clark over to get a picture of the "Highball". The nearby sign explained that the Highball was the earliest for of a railroad signal. Wooden balls in Red, White, and Black were hoisted up the staff when the track was clear. At night, a lantern was attached as well.

1/2 size replica of original Highball here

We also saw the "Jetty House" that was originally situated at the north jetty of Cape Charles harbor. This building was used to control the navigation lights on and adjacent to the jetty. The building was being used as someone's backyard workshop until its origins were recognized at which time it was donated to the museum.

"The Jetty House"

The interior of the Cape Charles Museum had been turned into a dining hall for the shrimp boil. We got to see some displays but many were obscured by the rearranged interior.

Diesel Engine used to generate electricity for the town

Model Train

Old Telephones

and Telephone switchboard

When we left the welcome center, we biked back to the marina. Our exploring was not finished, however, as Clark then suggested we go see the nature preserve nearby.

The preserve had wooden walkways over the marshy areas. We traveled down one of these a short distance. I felt spooked by the area as I could hear the alligators "croaking" all around. I had no idea how well built the walkway was and I feared it collapsing and dropping me into a nest of alligators. I never saw any, but boy could we hear them!

Alligator heaven

Clark asked if I wanted to explore any of the trails. Looking down the pathway all I could think of was insects and mud. I decided to pass as I was not wearing hiking boots - a good excuse. We headed back to the boat for the night.

Shortly after we got back on board Sunset Delight, a US Coast Guard boat came by. They maneuvered their vessel this way and that and really stirred up the water. Our boat was rocking like crazy from the waves they generated right next to us. After checking us out, the boat left and went down between each of the docks checking out every boat in the marina.

Moving further away now, but that "wash"
from their stern really shook us around when they were closer

After the "excitement" of the coast guard coming in close for a look-see, Clark stood on the dock talking to the owner of Curtisea - a Mainship 430. They talked for a while. I heard blah, blah, blah, batteries, and then I heard no more. They had disappeared inside the boat to talk more.

Almost two hours later, Clark had still not returned to our boat. Since it was past 7:00, I decided to make dinner and hope he would come back to eat it. We had one more place on our "must see" list. That was sunset on the beach. However, with Clark missing from his photography duties, not only did we not get to the beach for the sunset, but I had to take a sunset picture myself!

Sunset from Cape Charles Town Dock
(should have been "#6 - See the Sunset at the beach")

Clark finally returned to our boat at 8:00 just as I sat down to eat without him. I texted him a while before I sat down to say "dinner", but he was too busy talking to even know I texted him.

After dinner I worked on blog until after midnight. I'm done. Night all!