The Adventures of Monk's Vineyard - The Great Loop and Beyond: June 3, Day 343

We spent a leisurely morning as we decided to stay put today. Gerry did a bit of consulting work (need to pay for those boat slips) and Linda tidied up the galley area. Around 11:00 we headed for town. Since we were at anchor we needed to find a dinghy dock – easier said than done. A couple of our cruising guides indicated a public pier on Jackson Creek but, when we checked it out, it didn’t look too inviting – very high and difficult to disembark from a dinghy. The other option was a dinghy dock at the Deltaville Maritime Museum. While this was farther away from the main part of town, we both figured it would be easier to walk farther on flat land than to scale tall dilapidated wooden docks – so off to the museum we went.

Once docked, we headed into town knowing that it would be a long walk. We’d been here before right after picking up our boat. Deltaville doesn’t have a real compact “main” part of town. Instead, it is strung out over 3 or 4 miles. It was quite warm, but overcast so no bright sunshine. Linda had read in one of the guidebooks that Deltaville prides itself on being a very friendly small town and not to be surprised if someone stopped to ask you if you needed a ride. Sure enough, a lady stopped and offered us a ride which we readily accepted. Turns out she was a boat captain and delivered boats up and down the Intracoastal. She said it wasn’t hard to spot boaters walking down the road. She dropped us off at the local seafood market where we thought we'd check on some fresh fish for dinner. Later, we stopped at a local restaurant (The Galley) for lunch and picked up a visitor’s guide on the area called The Rivah. While reading through it, Gerry noticed there was a marine consignment shop in town – so that became our next stop. He found exactly what he was looking for: a PA trumpet horn to be used with our new VHF radio for automatic fog signals and hailing – and at about a fourth the cost of a new one. He was one happy captain.

After stopping back in at the seafood market to get some fresh fish (and bait for Gerry’s fishing) we headed out for our long walk back to the Maritime Museum. Almost immediately another car stopped and asked us if we’d like a ride. This lady, who said her name was Bobbie McGee (easy to remember that name), was a census taker and was out and about checking various addresses. She also said she could tell we were boaters. Guess all boaters must have that happy go-lucky look about them !! – or maybe it’s because we look lost and we’re all carrying bags.

After being dropped off at the museum we decided, since we were using the dock, we’d pay the admission to walk through and check out the nautical history of the area. They also had a nature park with lots of sculptures that was very nice.

Back at the boat we did log/blog/e-mail stuff and studied the information in The Rivah Guide. We loved the definition of the word rivah provided in the guide: Rivah (riv-a), n. a region in the peninsulas bound by the Chesapeake Bay and the Rappahannock, Potomac and York rivers, inclusive. adj. – rivah: reflecting an attitude indicative of the abundantly pleasant lifestyle in this area.

For dinner we had the fresh fish (flounder) that we’d bought earlier prepared with the “secret” recipe given to us by our French Canadian friends on Emotion III – yummy.

Speaking of Emotion III, we heard from Michel and Carole tonight. They are now in Hampton and will be catching up with us tomorrow in Reedville. We plan on traveling together for several days (until we finish the Loop). It will be great to see them again!!

Here's an aid to navigation -- the Deltaville Maritime Museum is "thataway"
Following the channel to the museum dock