Solomons MD to Reedville VA

Start time and hours                              0900                           3370.49

End time and hours                               1430                           3376.16

     We spend a wonderful night on anchor in Solomons MD.  There was almost no wind and the water was flat calm.  We have rocked more in a marina slip.  The sun doesn’t come up until after 7am so we get to sleep a little late and it is still dark.

     The weather prediction for today was for calm winds and seas.  We were only going on a short cruise today, about 43 nautical miles.  We have found that shorter cruises and mid afternoon anchorings are best.  There is no reason to cruise for a long day if there is no reason to cruise for a long day. 

     It was a very uneventful ride down the Chesapeake.  It is at times quite boring.  We are a mile or two off shore and there is not much to look at was we roll along.  Coming in and out of the tributaries and harbors is different.  The scenery is much better, lots more to see. 

     We turned out of the channel and entered Ingram Bay and the Great Wicomico River.  From there we then turned into Cockrell Creek and Reedville VA.   https://www.virginia.org/cities/reedville/  We found a great anchorage in the north fork of Cockrell Creek, we are the only boat here.  The holding is good and there is little to no wind.  The water is calm and the boat is not rocking at all.

     We launched the dinghy and motored into the town to look around.  Reedville is a very quiet little town.  There is a nice Ice Cream shop http://www.chitterchatsicecream.com/  and a few restaurants but no place to provision and no shops that we could find.  We of course had to stop at the ice cream shop.  It was a quaint little family run establishment with very good ice cream and frappes.

     The main street of Reedville is lined with older well-kept Victorian homes.  The town is also known for its Menhaden fish processing plant.  As long as you are not down wind of the plant it is good.  There was a northwest wind coming in today and when we were approaching the town from the south we could smell the fishy odor of the plant out in the bay.  Maybe if you live here you get used to it, but if I had to smell it at anchor I would leave.

     We stopped by the Reedville Fisherman’s Museum http://www.rfmuseum.org/ for a visit.  It was a very interesting place and we learned a lot about the menhaden fishing industry.  It was very surprising to learn how big this industry is and how long it had been sustained.

     After visiting the museum and what there was of the town we dinghied back to the boat for late afternoon cocktails and dinner.  The sunset was again gorgeous and we settled in for a restful night’s sleep.