| Getting Ready | The Chesapeake Bay | The Great Dismal Swamp | North Carolina | South Carolina | Georgia | Florida |
| Roni Tails | Sea Tales and Other Stories | Pictures of Doublewide | Mayaca Railroad Bridge |
| Back to The Chesapeake Bay |
| The Little Wicomoco River is beautiful, but has a tricky entry and an even trickier channel. It is amazingly shallow - you can look off to shore and see the shoaling coming straight out to you... In a few places the channel had shoaled to about 3 feet and in one place it was 2' and the prop definitely hit some mud/sand. I got pretty nervous when I saw the channel markers almost on shore on the far side of the river, but I continued on and eventually got to Smith Point Marina. It was a good lesson in not believing everything that you're told. I had called earlier and asked if the channel was indeed good to 4' and they said "Oh, sure! Come on in, we get lots of sailboats in here!". A good lesson in not believing everything that you're told.... These folks have a lovely marina but getting in and out is something that folks with boats with drafts greater than 2 feet might want to consider hard before trying. The inlet to the Little Wicomoc is about 50' wide the jetty is about 100' wide and there is a narrow dredged channel that is shoaling fast I'm really concerned about getting out of here tomorrow if the tide is against me, the tide runs very rapidly and I fought it all the way in, I'll have a devil of a time! However we are here, it is quiet, beautiful and there are no storms in the offing and I am about to turn in for the night. As I said, this is a lovely place I just wish it weren't so difficult an entry. Hope it doesn't totally shoal in overnight! Ah! But no, we got out and with centerboards up, we only kicked up the rudders slightly. The tide was beginning to ebb as we left, so it actually helped me thru the narrow entrance, unlike our approach where the tide was ALSO ebbing, and pushing us back hard! We are free and on our way to Deltaville and Fishing Bay Harbor! RoniRoni seems to be getting a little more relaxed with the boat and going from place to place. She loves the new smells, and since I got out a frisbee and showed hert he beach here she is filled with joy!The ride down from Solomon's Island was rough because the confluence of the Potomac and the Chesapeake is always rough, even when the wind is 'calm'. She bore it well, sitting in the Captain's Chair and hugging up next to me. She doesn't much like it when we are coming into harbor as I make her 'go below'. This is not the fun part for her as it is generally bumpy, scary and she is alone. All no good for Roni. Still, I cannot have her under feet when I am busy tying myself up, I mean, tying the boat up at the dock. There's enough to do and think about. Single handing while sailing/motoring is easy, the difficult parts are docking and undocking. DoublewideI was worried, quite frankly, I thought Cap'n Jan had lost her marbles. She has done really good thus far but dang, bringing me into a place like this where I could get all stuck and never get out. I must talk to her about it tomorrow morning. Maybe she knows something more than I do. All I can do is keep telling her about the bottom and how close it is to MY bottom! |
 Point No Point Bell 149 KB |
 View Off Starboard 110 KB |
 Happy Chief Pretty 71 KB |
 Coming In To Little Wicomoco 117 KB |
 Doublewide Tied Up 113 KB |
 Liveaboard 124 KB |
 Roni Checks Out A Crab Pot 129 KB |
 View Of Little Wicomoco 100 KB |
 Idiotic Pay Phone At Marina 116 KB |
 Roni Relaxing 130 KB |
 Leaving Little Wicomoco 112 KB |
| Getting Ready | The Chesapeake Bay | The Great Dismal Swamp | North Carolina | South Carolina | Georgia | Florida |
| Roni Tails | Sea Tales and Other Stories | Pictures of Doublewide | Mayaca Railroad Bridge |