A bit of boat work and we finally leave Deltaville

The weather here is very unpredictable and the thunderstorms roll through regularly. On Monday night we went ashore to go and shower with the wind howling. Andrew couldn’t row us back and we ended up at Dave’s boat. He gave us a tow back, thank goodness.

 Always watching the weather

We had invited Dave and Sandy over for supper that night but we decided it was best we all stay on our own boats. One of the boats in the anchorage had already dragged anchor and ended up at the other end of the bay. The owners were in the restaurant on shore! The following day we woke to beautiful blue skies and lovely sunshine, with hardly any wind!

To save fresh water we use the salt water pump to rinse dishes before doing them in fresh water. Andrew opened the valve for the salt water and proceeded to do the washing up. The bilge pump went off. We didn't really take any notice until it had gone off three times in quick succession. We knew we had a problem somewhere. We looked under the sink and in the head, all the places where the pressure water is. We couldn't find anything. Then we heard a spewing noise coming from the water maker. We lifted the mattress and the seat and found water leaking into the bilge. The filter housings were off the water maker. Not a problem we thought. We turned off the sea water valve and continued with the washing up, planning to put the water maker together the following day. 

The next morning Andrew had a closer look at the filter housing and found that all three had popped off their screw tops. There must have been water in them which froze over the winter and broke. Oh dear! We tried to get replacements at the local chandlery, Hurds, but they didn't have the size we needed. Amazon!! Yes, we found them there and ordered them pronto.

New filter housing

Dave and Sandy finally came over for dinner. It was a lovely evening and the lamb chops from Costco were delicious.

One morning we had to take Calypso to the dock to fill up with water. We were both a bit nervous about it but as there was no wind, it went flawlessly. When we pulled up the anchor it was covered in thick, oozy mud - clearly very good holding here. We filled the tanks and then puttered out in the bay to anchor again,

Andrew worked on the dinghy motor ashore after finding a spot where he could put the motor upright. He eventually got it started after a few heart stopping moments when after pulling the cord nothing happened. He realized that he had left the kill switch doohickey off. Once it was in place the engine started first time. Yahooooo! Such a relief.

Reed valve

One afternoon I was sitting in the cockpit watching a boat cross the mooring field that had just launched. I was sure I heard her say something about her engine that had just cut out. I got up to see if she needed help and noticed she was on her phone, so didn't really pay much attention. She turned her boat and next thing she was up against Reve de Lune. Dave and Sandy were on deck with fenders trying to push her off, meanwhile she was still on her phone. I discovered later that she was on the phone to Heidi, from the yard, about her motor that had cut out. What she thought Heidi could do, who knows. Dave tried pulling her off his boat but it was not working. He came across to us to ask Andrew if he could help. They managed to get her off the Lune and on to the fuel dock. She called TowBoatUS, who came later in the day to take her around the corner to her dock.

Dave was furious. She was clearly very inexperienced as she didn't even know how to put her engine into neutral. No word of thanks either! 

The next task to tackle was the mattress that we had bought for Laura’s bed. It came all rolled up and vacuum packed. So we carefully took it ashore and set about cutting it to size. We used the old one as a template and made sure to leave the outer cover almost intact. Once all the cutting was finished we went back to the boat and I spent the rest of the day sewing up the cover. 

We bumped into Laurie and Jim, who were our neighbors on the hard, while we were doing the mattress and expressed an interest in picking their brain for information about anchorages further north. We agreed to meet, with another couple, Jean and Mike, at Tap and Raw Bar for burger night. 

We had been eyeing out the Tap and Raw Bar for a while. Andrew was keen to taste their beers. They seem to be very popular with specials at various times of the week.

The burgers on special were $10 each with a choice of a side and $4 for a 12 ounce beer, 354ml. We walked away from there with our wallets a whole lot lighter but the information we gleaned was invaluable. 

Jim and Laurie have been sailing for 17 years, mostly in this area and further north where we want to go. I am sure they feel as comfortable about the Chesapeake as we do about Grenada.

With the dinghy motor fixed and the mattress done, we were almost ready to leave.

Friday 9 May was our very special daughter-in-laws 30th birthday. One of the many big birthdays we are going to miss this year. We phoned Kay in the morning and watched her blow out candles and open her presents. She had a wonderful surprise birthday party with her friends.

We had ordered some things from Amazon and they were delivered to the Post Office. We went along to fetch them.

Saturday morphed into Sunday with Andrew finishing off various projects that needed doing before leaving. He had to put all the hardware back onto the back of the boat which was removed before we were taken off the lift when we were hauled out.

We went for a walk around the neighborhood. So different to South Africa where we have high walls and electric fences surrounding our houses.

Thought of Matt when we saw this one

On Sunday, Dave was going to come and help Andrew put the wind generator back on but we discovered that it had completely seized. We debated whether we should keep it on the boat or not, and finally decided we didn’t have the space for it.

So instead of boat work we went into Williamsburg with Dave and Sandy in the car of their friends, Anne and Jon, who had gone back to SA. Dave and Sandy were housesitting and looking after the multitude of cats and had access to the car.

First was a stop at an outlet mall, which is very similar to Access Park in Kenilworth, back home. 

Laura bought a pair of crocs and we found a game we had been looking for, which is called Left, Center, Right. It is a game we played with Dave and Sandy a few years ago and we all loved it. It was one Laura could manage well. It was quite apt that we found the game while shopping with the Oppermans!

We wanted to see the old town and do a tour but the tickets were prohibitively expensive, $31 each. Almost $100 for us three. Far too much. So instead we found a diner for lunch.

There is a lovely common room for cruisers where people meet, chat, have coffee, watch TV and generally hang out. We popped in there to get the keys for the car so that we could do a last minute run to the supermarket for eggs and fresh goods. Andrew was chatting to Skip about the wind generator. He was very interested in taking it off our hands and trying to fix it. Skip and his wife are working on their boat in the yard. They say they have another 11 months before they splash.

We planned to leave Deltaville on Monday 12 May. When we woke to gloomy skies and a prediction of lots of rain and high winds on Tuesday, we debated whether to go or not. Deltaville is a bit like Prickly Bay, one can get caught on the velcro sea bed preventing you from heading out. 

But whether the weather be hot or whether the weather be cold (windy), we will weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not. ( Little Bear). So we decided to be brave and GO!

We filled the boat with diesel and water at the dock one last time, said goodbye to Dave, Laurie and Jim and set off for Reedville.