July 12, 2014 Corrotoman River anchorage

We were hauling the anchor up around 8 AM and heading out of the York River with Field Trip before 8:05 AM.  We passed  several fuel barges that had come in during the night as we made our way down the York river.   The river is very broad like most of the rivers emptying into Chesapeake Bay.  It almost resembles a large bay not a river.  And is, at least now, home to lots of jellyfish.

Heading up the Rappahannock 

 Once in the Bay we had to head a ways off shore   before turning north past Mobjack Bay and the Piankatank River.  After a few hours we arrived at the mouth of the Rappahannock River.  The anchorage for the night was up on the Corrotoman River which is a tributary of the Rappahannock.

Sailboat races

The Rappahannock is another broad river which is, surprisingly, sparsely developed from what we could see.  But there are plenty of sailors.   I mention the sailors because we had to thread our way through numerous sailboat races around the river mouth as we headed up stream.

Its about 9 miles from the mouth of the Rappahannock to the anchorage in the Corrotoman River.  We were fighting a mild tidal current so it took us a while but we eventually threaded are way up the well marked channel and into the Corrotoman River.

Anchored in West Bay of Corrotoman river (Field Trip in the background)

There were several little areas to anchor here but we chose a relatively large bay about a mile beyond the mouth of the river. bey.  Entering the bay we came around a small spit of land which offered some protection from southwest winds which were forecast for tonight.  We dropped the anchor and it held right away.


Our forward head had stopped working earlier in the morning so I decided to fix it while we were anchored. Turns out it was a clogged joker valve requiring me to remove the waste hose and joker valve assemble.  I had to let them sit in vinegar for a few hour before re-assembling everything.  Seems to work fine.  Not a job I’d like to repeat however.

After that we went up to take the dingy down with the intent on running over and visiting with Bob and Martha.  I was figuring on just towing the dinghy the next day anyway since we'd probably be using it to explore around the next anchorage in the Potomac.

Makeshift tie down for the dinghy after we hauled it aboard

We setup the crane and attached the line to the lifting bridle and I took off all the shackles and hit the button to begin lifting it off its cradle.   And like the 100 other times we've done this, I swung it out over the side and began lowering it except it made it about 5 feet and the winch groaned oddly and ceased to pay out line even though the motor was running.  Odd I thought.  Tried a few things with no result.  So there we sat with a dingy hanging 12 feet off the water and no mechanism to haul back aboard.  I had to laugh.  I mean what an absurd  situation.

Luckily there was a marina near by, Yankee Point and I was able to talk to one of the dock hands who just happened to know the local tow captain was at the marina.  After a few minutes I was able to talk with Ken, the tow captain.  I told him the situation and he agreed to drive out and see what he could do.

He arrived and we clamored up on the sundeck overhead and his first assessment was not good.  The winch drum (where the cable is wound) had separated from the motor shaft and the drum itself was jammed against the crane housing.  Basically, that drum jammed against the housing was all that was holding the dingy in the air.  Precarious?  You bet.  But we were lucky in that the thing didn't separate completely letting the dinghy fall 12 feet into the water. 

In the frenzy of the moment I forgot to take pictures.

Ken and I got a dock line and secured it the best we could around the hoisting bridle and crane arm to act as a safety line in case the drum dislodged itself.  He thought we could haul it aboard by hand.  So we first tried a few ratchet straps but they were of minimal help.  I called Bob from Field Trip and asked if he had a block and tackle which he did.  So Ken and I temporarily secured the dinghy and he then ran over to fetch Bob and his block and tackle..

We found a place on of the padeyes to attach the block and tackle and then, ever so slowly, were able to winch the dinghy on board using a pillow and several fenders as rollers.  We got on the cradle far enough to make it pretty steady.  After thanking Ken profusely and paying him generously for the hour he spent, he took Bob back to his boat and then left while I put some more lines on the dinghy and secured it as best I could giving due consideration to the 2-3 foot seas forecast for tomorrow on the Bay as we run up to the  Potomac tomorrow.

Temporary restraint for the crane arm

Mary and I did have to fiddle with the crane for awhile since we couldn't bring in the winch cable and it took some doing to secure the crane in a horizontal position since the drum was wedged up in the housing making it difficult to position it correctly.  But we managed to get it all secured pretty well.

Really nice anchorage even though its windy

The SW winds we were expecting remain south making the bay we were anchored in a little bumpy.  Had the forecast been correct we would have had a calm night with that spit of land proving some wind and wave protection.  

We needed to decide where to go tomorrow since we wanted to be close to the Boathouse Marina at Colonial Beach in the Potomac.  Our plan was to be in there Monday night so they can assess the winch and how to repair it while we pack for the trip to Wisconsin on the 16^th.

We were thinking of anchoring at a  place called The Glebe up in the Coan River.  This is a small bay up the river surrounded by sparse residential area.  Very quite and semi protected or so I'm led to believe.

After discussing this over the radio with Field Trip, we ultimately decide to leave tomorrow at 7am since The Glebe is about a 61 mile jaunt.  Field Trip is considering heading to a different spot closer to the Solomons,  but in any event we'll leave together tomorrow morning and wind our way back out to the Chesapeake.

Meanwhile is a beautiful night although a little windy.  Nice spot to return when we make our way back south.