Smith Island to Milford Haven

You can monitor my trip at the link: Second Winds Progress Live

Day 16, Thursday, October 13, 2016

I was awakened early by a number of crab boat heading out to tend to their traps.

A relatively modern crab shack

After breakfast, I went for a walk in the village of Ewell on Smith Island.  The guide books warn that the entire island is basically a swamp.  As I wandered around, I found that the yards and roads had standing water.  A number of homes had a raised walkway that led from the street to the front porch. The book also talked about mosquitoes and I found it to be spot on!

Closed at 9:00 am

Other than crabbing, the economy is bolstered by tourists who arrive by ferry.  The few shops, restaurants, (of which I saw two), and museum all operate around the ferries schedule.  I went to the Harborside Restaurant to get a couple of fresh uncooked crab cakes, however, they don’t open until 12:00 and close at 4:00 so I wandered on.  The museum, gift shop, and other restaurant have the same hours.  In the center of what I saw of the village was a beautifully maintained United Methodist Church.  I am sure that I saw only a relatively small part of the town. They have bicycles and golf carts for rent that are available during the commercial hours.

I headed back to Second Wind and cast off my lines at about 9:30.  I had planned

The Methodist Church

to make it another short day of transit to the western shore of the Bay but the weather forecast called for some ugly stuff coming in tomorrow and I assumed that I would need to hole up for a day.  That left only one day for me to get to Hampton, VA and I didn’t want that trip to be extra-long so I found an interesting looking place further south of my original destination.

Out in the Bay, the winds were blowing 5 to 10 knots from the west and my course of travel was to the west by southwest so I again had to motor.  The waves were about 1 foot so the trip was not uncomfortable. 

Part of the fishing fleet

I traveled amongst a number of large ships.  Our boat is equipped with an Automatic Identification System, AIS, that receives an informational signal from large vessels who are required to carry transmitters.  These signals give the course, speed, contact information, and collision point if that becomes an issue.  They also give some information about the vessel itself.  At one point I identified 7 seemingly identical 157 foot vessels that turned out to be fishing boats.  They all were neatly painted alike and seemed to be traveling more or less together. 

Me destination was Milford Haven located on the southern side of the mouth of the

The swing bridge.  Note the little house in the middle.

Painkatank River  It is reached by entering the Painkatank and then following the marker that lead south around Gwynn’s Island through a swing bridge.  The bridge has a little house built into the top of it in which the tender stays and opens the bridge on demand 24 hours a day.  I called the guy on the radio and he immediately swung the bridge for my passage. Beyond the bridge Milford Haven spreads calmly out between the wooded shores.  

The bridge in action

Off of the Haven are several creeks that offer good protection from weather from all directions. I randomly picked a small branch cove off of Stutts Creek to drop my hook.  Where I shopped was in about 6 feet of water in the middle of the cove between a few nice homes and boat houses.  There was absolutely no wind and the water was completely glassy.  The forecast called for the weather to change after midnight to winds 15 to 20 knots gusting to 25.  I feel quite secure here.

I prepared cheeseburger mac and green beans for my evening meal.  As it became dark, I heard a group of what I assume were coyotes raising a ruckus somewhere off to the east of my little bay.  I finally gave up and went to bed at about 9:00.