An Accidental Passage

Having spent a couple of days in Solomons Island, we were pretty eager to make some tracks.  The weather was great so we headed to the bay without any specific destination in mind.  We found excellent wind and started learning how to rig and operate our new whisker pole.  As early afternoon approached, we decided on Tangier Island as a destination.  I had read up a little on the island and knew that there was only one marina and that the marina did not often answer phones or the radio.  In addition, if the marina was full, there was nowhere we could safely anchor near by.  One more issue was that the water surrounding is shallow and the approaches a little difficult.  I had decided when I researched the island that if we were going, we needed to plan to arrive not later than mid afternoon so that if there was no room for us at the marina we would still have daylight to exit the area and go somewhere else.

So, having decided Tangier would be our destination, I put a waypoint on the GPS and headed us in the proper direction.  Based in the distance and our speed, I figured we would arrive around 5:00 p.m.  Not exactly the mid afternoon arrival I had decided was optimal, but if everything went perfectly, all would be fine.

Strike 1.

We happily navigate the pretty dotted line on the GPS screen to the outer channel markers.  Finding the markers, it was a breeze to follow the channel through the shallows to the Island.

I see a little marina, but it does not seem to be exactly where I expected.  Things are just not feeling quite right.  As we approach the marina and can see the sign, it reads “Smith Island Marina.”.  Now things are really not feeling right.  We see an empty slip and point the boat towards it.  As we nose in, our keel touches bottom.  Too shallow.  A guy on the dock says maybe we can tie up to the ferry dock next door and ask someone if it is OK to overnight there. We tie up at the dock, but it is very beat up.  Since (in my mind) Tangier is only a couple of miles away and I really don’t want anyone to know that I navigated to the wrong island, we push off the dock and motor back out into the bay.

Strike 2

So, we navigate through the channel to the bay and turn the boat south.  Fingers dancing on the GPS I busily find Tangier to our south and learn it is another 12 miles.  Now it is 5:00 p.m.  If we head for Tangier we will arrive at sunset.  No good.  The west side of the bay has several creeks we could anchor in so we point the boat west.  Doing a little figuring, we find that we would arrive in the creeks around sunset.  No good.

We are out in the middle of the bay and sunset is approaching.  If we motor full blast to a harbor, we can just make it by full dark.  If everything goes perfectly, we get the anchor down and spend the night cozy on a pretty creek.  If not perfect, we are really screwed.  Up a creek we have never seen, in the dark, nowhere to anchor.

Strike 3

If there is one thing we have learned, it is that you should not let your desire to get into a port drive you to make decisions that are unsafe.  We are much safer out on the bay in deep water than we are trying to make our way to anchor in the dark.  We are about 50 miles North of Norfolk and if we shorten sail to slow the boat down, we will arrive tomorrow morning.  It is hard to change your preconceived notion of how your day will proceed, but this is the safe and correct decision.

It is now 6:00 a.m. and I am on watch.  Mary did a 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and I slept soundly.  She is sleeping now.  It will be daylight in about 90 minutes and I can see the lights of Norfolk in the distance.  The lights of the Bay Bridge Tunnel off to my left.  The boat has been making 4 miles per hour all night and the timing will be perfect for a morning arrival.  We will likely anchor at Hampton.

Lessons learned:

GPS is a great tool that will lead you exactly where you tell it to.  If is not such a great tool to give you a large scale look at your area and your plan.  I should have looked at a paper chart that showed the bay in large scale.  Then I would not have put a waypoint on the wrong island.

We could have stayed at the commercial dock on the wrong island and that might have been the correct decision.  Leaving was OK too, but I should not have let my embarrassment be the deciding criteria.  I should have swallowed my pride and gone ashore to check it out.

Our boat is equipped and prepared for offshore passages.  We are prepared for overnights.  Once we changed gears and decided we were staying out, we had a very pleasant sail.

All is good

Jeff