Wormley Creek Marina – Thursday, 5/26 through Sunday, 5/30
From Wednesday evening until Sunday afternoon, we spent some good quality time with our family in Seaford, VA. We attended a baseball game for a grandnephew (Colton), cooked a few meals together, went over to Shannon’s (niece) one night, and played cards just the four of us. Denise got in a few runs in the neighborhood around J&C’s house, seeing deer, bunnies, turtles, and even horses.
Turtle sighting on run 
Deer sighting on run
We went back to the boat a few times to check on things, and also for John to assist Mark in a minor repair on our galley hatch gasket; using a 3M product, of course! (For those that don’t know, Denise’s brother John is retired from 3M). During this time, we noticed the fireboat was done being painted and was now back in the water.
We also went to check out another potential marina (Mills Marina) that is actually closer to J&C’s and once again attended Joan of Arc Catholic Church for mass on Sunday.
Throughout the weekend we were also watching the forecasts for our planned departure. We still looked good for leaving on Tuesday and made arrangements for Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Herrington Harbor, MD and Delaware City, DE, respectively. We changed our stops along the Chesapeake in order to make some progress north, still looking to be at the Looper Pig Roast on 6/13 in NY, if at all possible.
On Saturday and Sunday the rains came, and brought with it at times some fierce wind. When it shifted out of the north it brought cold weather (55° at 8:00 am) and water from the York River up into the marina; once again the docks were covered. This was how it was when we arrived back at the boat on Sunday afternoon.
Water over the fuel dock 
Gangplank to land is lower
Finally, on Sunday afternoon we said good-bye to Cathy, and John took us back to our boat. We had things to do and wanted to make sure they had time to enjoy the rest of their holiday weekend without us in the way. We are so grateful for their warm hospitality and for sharing their home with us. We had fun and hope to get to see them again in October on our way home.
Once back on the boat we settled into putting things away and identified a few things to get done before our early Tuesday am departure. The rain had stopped (finally), but it was still overcast and very windy. And the boat was cold, which means we turned off the AC and turned on the heat.
When we returned to the marina we also noticed that the fireboat was now back on the hard. We are not sure of the reason for this and it was supposed to be ready for Memorial Day. However, no one was around to ask and it sat there for the rest of the weekend.
In the evening, Denise got the last blog update published and Mark reviewed the weather and tide forecasts. He planted the seed for adjustments to our itinerary from Wed. on, and confirmed we are good to leave on Tuesday as planned. We also spent time talking to both our family members and friends, some of whom we are especially thankful for as they are making this trip possible for us, by covering for things on the home front.
Wormley Creek Marina – Monday, 5/31 – Memorial Day!
During the night the clouds disappeared, and we woke up to a cool and breezy morning, with temperature at 50°. We welcome the sun and the cool (not cold) weather. The wind was still blowing, reminding us that there was a reason we did not plan to leave until tomorrow.
After breakfast we looked at the updated forecasts for the coming days. We now have a window of opportunity to get very far north by Thursday morning, and possibly to Staten Island, NY by Thursday night. But then we will have to sit for a few days as the next weather front comes through. Of course this could also change, so we can’t commit to anything right now except leaving tomorrow morning.
The rest of the morning Denise worked on prepping some food for the week, and Mark handled a few financial items for the business, as well as us personally. We also did a few minor boat chores and talked with some of the locals in the marina.
At noon we heard a cannon blast and looked towards the USGC Training Center Yorktown. Sure enough, they were commemorating Memorial Day and made 21 cannon blasts for fallen soldiers. It was pretty cool to see this from afar.
In the afternoon some of the sailboats in the marina headed out onto the York River. There was no organized event, just some great sailing weather and we could see them go up and down the river. While the wind had died down (as forecasted), it was still blowing enough for them to go have a great day on the water. We hung out around the boat, reading, writing most of this blog, and just relaxing. Coming up, we will have a few long days on the water and wanted to take advantage of a lazy and relaxing afternoon.
We have enjoyed our time at this marina, and will write a positive review when we get the chance. We may even stay here again on our return trip south.
Island Office 