Wormley Creek Marina – Thursday, 5/20
With the sunrise now before 6:00 am it is hard to stay awake must past 5:30 am when the sky starts to get light. Naturally, Denise was wide awake and got the generator going for coffee and to turn on the heat. It also may be the last morning for a while that we will need to do this as the forecast is for warmer weather in the coming days. But it was so beautiful a morning that it was hard to disturb the peace, even for a little while.
After Mark got up and we had breakfast, we called WCM and they were able to allow us to come in a day early. They gave us the go ahead, which made us quite happy. Plus, because we were intending to stay a week and now adding an extra day, we got the 8th night free.
We left our wonderful anchorage and headed out the east river, passing the Williams Wharf Landing, a privately owned waterfront park with approximately ¼ mile of shoreline on 5 acres of land. We passed by the big structure that we had seen two years ago and we are still questioning if it is still under construction or completed. There has been an organization that has been formed for the preservation of this area, and they have more information on their website, here.
We entered the wide expanse of Mobjack bay and then turned briefly up the York River.
We didn’t have far to go before we turned up the Perrin River and headed to Crown Point Marina for some fuel. We did not want to fill up out tanks here, but need enough to get us to Wormley Creek Marina (WCM), and then 70+ miles up the Chesapeake when we leave WCM. The creek was very shallow and the tide was still going out, so we did not want to spend a lot of time here. We added the fuel as fast as possible, and when Mark returned he realized that the BoatUS discount they offered was 10% off the total bill, not $.10 per gallon as he originally thought. He was contemplating adding more fuel as this made it very inexpensive, especially compared to all the other marinas around. However, filling the boat and sinking it down into the water further on an outgoing tide in shallow water was not a good thing, so he changed his mind and immediately got us moving. The depth gauge showed 4’6” and as he pulled away from the dock we saw a bit of mud kicked up in the water.
Enterring Perrin River – to CPM 
Fueling at Crown Point Marina
We exited the channel to the marina back into Perrin River and out onto the York River where we only had 2+ miles to go across it and enter the channel at Wormley Creek. To the left of the creek is power plant, preceded by a large fuel pipeline. On the right is the US Coast Guard Training Center (TRACENT), Yorktown. It was good to see our “Coasties” out patrolling the waters as we approached the creek. Once inside the creek breakwater, we made a sharp left turn past the docks for the private homes and into the creek’s narrow channel that runs right in front of the marina.
Approahing Wormley Creek 
Channel into WCM
Our first order of business at WCM was to get a pump-out. This was easy to do and Pam (marina owner) was down with her newest employee (Madison) to lend a hand and share information. Here we learned the water at the slips was well water and she did not recommend us drinking it. Therefore we needed to add water on the boat in order to have some for showers, cooking, etc. while here. To do this we needed to move the boat around the pump-out dock to the haul-out area and hook up a hose to the spigot that is provided by the city (i.e. is potable). To get the hose to the boat, Mark had to connect 2 of our hoses (one 50’ and one 150’) to reach the boat for filling our water tanks. It took about 45 minutes for all this activity, meanwhile the temperature was rising and it was getting hot!
Posititioning for water fill 
Water faucet to fill boat
Finally, after filling the boat with fuel, pumping out our waste, and adding water, we were able to move to our slip where our Island Office will sit for the next 8 days. It was nearly noon and the Captain was hungry for lunch and thirsty for his daily Diet Coke. But before he could enjoy this indulgence, we had to go check into the marina office before they closed for lunch (at noon). Here we re-encountered Pam who was so informative and as nice as she could be. She explained the issues she is having getting staff and thus the marina is not quite where she would like it to be: the gardens need weeding and the pool was still not open as it requires cleaning of the tables and umbrellas, etc. She was willing to go the extra mile to make us feel welcome in this family-owned marina. We chatted further with her as we checked out the restroom and laundry facilities (pay for on the honor system) and how hard it is for her to get away from work; her and her husband live on the property in the house that overlooks the marina.
WCM 
WCM Grounds
WCM street sign 
Haul out lift
Pool at WCM 
Pool and restrooms at WCM
WCM street sign 
Office & ship stores at WCM
Finally, we got back to our boat, ate some lunch and turned on the air conditioner as it was 85° and hot. Mark did some work as Denise got caught up on emails, and published the last blog. Mark also rinsed off the boat with the dock water, and made arrangements for our rental car pickup for the weekend. Meanwhile, Denise was in contact with the nieces (Christen & Shannon) and made arrangements for Mark’s Birthday dinner on Friday evening.
We had leftovers for dinner aboard the boat, and streamed a few shows on the TV before calling it a day.
Island Office 