ICW Trip 2001 Leg 3 Kilmarnock to Sarahs Creek 40nm

We finally decided to bite the bullet and go regardless of the weather. It looked like it wouldn't be so bad today.

I was at the helm. The GPS hooked to my computer wasn't acquiring satellites,

Computer box

and while I was trying to fix it, I ran us suddenly hard aground (having temporarily forgotten that going out the creek red is on the left). The boat stood on its nose, which threw Lucette who was below onto the floor and gave her a big goose egg on the head. Max and I were in the cockpit, and it didn't affect us too much. I thought it was kind of interesting. Bob was on the stern, and he was mad.

In the bay, winds were 17-21 knots all day and gusting up to 29 and the waves were 4-6 feet, fortunately on the quarter so it wasn’t too bumpy a ride, but no one felt much like eating breakfast. On the radio, heard that someone lost their dink (like we lost the solar panel last spring coming north).

Bob thought we could get all the way down to Hampton and maybe stay at the Old Pt. Comfort Marina again, but I couldn't get them on the phone. At first it was because they've changed the exchange to 788 (not the area code as I thought at first, just the exchange), and then when I finally contacted them, I was informed that because of 9-11 they are not taking transients at all, so we couldn't go there anyway.

Spider at the entrance to the river

I was still a bit uncomfortable with the weather, so we went into the York River,

Rt 17 York River Bridge

and stayed across from Yorktown just down from the fixed Rt. 17 bridge at York River Yacht Haven in Sarah Creek (out of sight on the right of the photo above). The chart shows our track into the marina and the bridge is on the left side of the chart. We mostly sailed, and did 46 nm at an average speed of 6 knots.

Track to the marina

York River Yacht Haven was $1.25 a foot plus electricity was $5.40. They had showers and laundry facilities and a pool. I never found the TV room and internet cafe place that they said they had. The store was mostly souvenir type stuff. We did get fuel there.

Marinas and anchorages in Sarah Creek

Sarah Creek (#25 on the map)

If you are feeling vigorous, you can walk about 2 miles to Yorktown. Or if not, the marina can arrange transportation for you.

Marina from farther up Sarah Creek

We ate at the River's Inn Restaurant, which was a very fancy restaurant with prices to match. Bob had she-crab soup and an appetizer, and I had the Blue Plate special, and we drank iced tea, and the bill was over $41.00. They did give us wooden nickels for 50 cent draft beers which Max and Lucette used.