Up and ready to head out to Onacock but the Buyboats were in no hurry to leave.

Aug. 6th, 2018

We were up early, excited about getting back on the water. Our departure target time  was set at 9am, an hour after the buyboats told us they would be leaving.  We couldn't leave before them because the largest was moored across the end of the dock and its stern extended behind our boat.
When he did that we whined a little about the loss of our beautiful bay view not thinking about the fact that we were pinned in our slip. At nine we were ready to go!  We had our breakfast as did our only crew member, Peanut. Our departure checklist was done and we even got an extra walk in for Peanut. Ok! Ready, set, UGH, wait!  Hmmmm nobody seems to be starting engines.  Finally about ten o-clock the engines started up one by one and by ten thirty they were on the water. We gave them about thirty minutes head start then headed out. We had eleven miles of river to decide whether we were headed North to the Solomon's or across the Bay to Onancock. We had been to the Solomon's before but going to Onancock was a lateral move which we weren't sure we wanted to do either.
As we neared the Bay I checked the weather again and storms had formed North of the Solomon's and were heading straight down the Bay. Our decision had been made for us, we were heading across the Bay to Onancock, hoping the storms would pass behind us. We kept a close eye on those nasty clouds in the sky and on my weather app pushing a few more rpms than normal. A sigh of relief and happy dance as we successfully crossed before they reached us.

Succeeding in one challenge only led to another. The very large homes along the river obviously didn't want boats anchoring in front of them. They had set lines of fake crab pots  close enough to the channel to prevent us from having enough room to anchor.  After a couple of runs up and down we finally settled on a spot just off the main channel that had enough room for us.  It was just around the corner from the town dinghy dock which was a nice plus. We settled in our little spot looking forward to a calm and quiet evening.

                                           Big houses with fake crab pots out in front

                                                   The storm we beat across the Bay

                                                       Laughter tucked in for the night

Urbanna in a nutshell

We spent a month and 3 days in Urbanna and I cant say enough great things about the town. The people are some of the friendliest people we have ever met. They are kind, helpful and always delighted to stop and visit with you.  The town itself is small, walkable from the town marina. We ate in two of the resturants, The Village and Something Different. Food in both was really really good. Something Different had music on Friday nights and served adult only ice cream, Mmmmm. My two favorites were whisky gingerbread and apple pie. We visit many towns on our journey, some of them you remember because of their history, some their beauty but what we will remember most about Urbanna is the people!

                                                             Main street of town

                                                            View from our aft deck

                                                   Our very dear friends Brendon and Teagon

                              Dinner and music out with our dock neighbors and very good friends,
                                 Syd and

    We helped a local get his boat in a tight spot and when they came back from lunch brought us a
                      few special treats. Can you believe the kindness!

A lesson in Chesapeake Buyboats

  Our month was up, doctors appointments for the nut and I were done and it was time to move on. We said our goodbyes but it wasn't to be. The wind whipped around to the North and thunderstorms were expected. We could mosey down to the mouth of the river but then what. Lets see, anchor with nothing around for 2-3 days or stay in Urbanna and enjoy the Founders Day celebration and the Buyboat reunion. Kind of a no brainer don't ya think? Plus a few more days visiting with our great neighbors Janie and Syd and our fishing/crabbing buddies Brendan and T.  Staying also gave me an opportunity to attend a line dancing class, although my ankle was not happy with me the next day.
    The Founders Day celebration was low key but enjoyable. Pirates in the park demonstrating weaponry of that era, a town crier announcing the days activities a play that reenacted a portion of history, and music.  The highlight of the weekend for me was the Chesapeake buyboat reunion. Standing on the dock watching each of the 15 boats come in one by one. These wooden boats are the last of their kind, lovingly restored by those who have purchased them to preserve a little Chesapeake history. No shiny fiberglass, fancy tinted windows and sleek modern design. Instead beautifully built wooden boats with love and perfection, all by hand. The teak wood that makes up their doors, window frames and railings is polished to perfection.
    Back in 1925 oystermen harvested an estimated 6 million to 8 million bushels of oysters from Chesapeake Bay. That year, the buyboats Nellie Crockett and Agnes Sterling were launched on opposite sides of the Bay. About 5000 of these boats, deckboats that transferred oysters from smaller boats to wholesalers ashore were built. They purchased oysters directly from the watermen so the watermen didn't need to stop oystering. These boats once took as many as 2700 bushels of oysters to shore. They also hauled everything from fuel oil and muskrat pelts to watermelons and mail.  I spoke to a gentleman that told me they were even used to move people from one town to another before roads were worth traveling on. There are only about 50 of these magnificent boats of history left out of the original 5000.

                                        Winding stairway into the sleeping area.

                      These kitchen cabinets look just like the ones my dad built in our house in Gary.
           He even did the ornate top over the window on our just like this one.

                           The woodwork in these is amazing and to think these present day owners lovingly
                          refurbished it all.

                                                                   The town crier

                                                         Weapons demonstration

                                                                    Historical play

                                    model boat builder who builds exact replicas of the buyboats
                                        and skipjacks.

Our new friends and fishing buddies

A father and daughter fishing team came down to the dock almost everyday.  While walking Peanut
the teen asked her name and if she could pet her. I sat with Brendon and daughter Teagan for a
while a visited. Our evening visit turned into a daily ritual. Teagan would look towards our boat and we would come down as soon as we noticed they arrived. Once Teagan understood Toms humor they became pals. Soon Teagan was running down the dock to get us each evening. One Friday evening we went out and on Saturday Teagan informed us that Peanut was sad because we left her. She could hear her whine.  Brandon really wanted to buy a fishing boat but didn't think he could get Teagan on it. They have wave runners but she will only ride with a friend of the family, not dad!  Because she asked about our boat and our "little" boat, our dink, each day we offered to take her for a ride in the "little" boat hoping it might make her comfortable enough to ride on a boat that dad bought. It took several days but one day she announced she wanted to go for a ride. Our smiles were beyond ear to ear when she came running up the dock the next evening with her life jacket on. "Im going on the little boat", lets go! It just so happened it was the day her friend had come fishing as well. We put them in the "little" boat and off to the beach we went.
We walked, picked up shells and ran in the sand. A memory we won't forget! Once back in the boat Teagan announced she didn't want to go back. She wanted to go the other way under the bridge first. Excited that she felt comfortable in the boat we honored her request. You should have seen dads face when we passed the dock and headed for the bridge! When Teagan got off the boat she announced to her dad that he could buy a boat and she would ride on it. HAHAHA, he now had her permission.  Just before we left Urbanna Teagan wanted to go for a ride on the "little" boat. This time we
told her dad was going to come with. It took a little trickery, because she insisted that he not come, to make it work but we got it done and not only had a nice ride but a tour by dad of the homes along the river just outside Urbanna Bay. Tom had taught Teagan the phrase I'm going to send you to the moon, complete with arm pointing. When we left the dock with dad in the boat she told Tom I'm going to send my dad to the moon! Not sure her parents are going to appreciate her learning that phrase, lol.
We had such fun with those two, and will miss them.  We so hope we cross paths again!
Check out Tom and T doing the crabby dance in the last photo.

                                             Brendan, Teagan and Peanut fishing together

                                                              Running on the beach

                                                       Teagans friend climbing a dune

She didn't want her photo taken because I was driving. "What are you

 doing".

                                 Brendon loaned us his crab trap. in three days we caught, cooked, cleaned and
                                froze the meat from 2 dozen keepers.

The crabby dance