June 1

June 1. Today was to be a short 35 mile day up the James River to Jamestown. We had a relaxed morning and got underway at 1000 hours. We were supposed to have 10 to 15 knots of breeze off the beam and a knot and a half push all the way up the river.

The warship traffic here is amazing. There’s always something big headed somewhere at all times and its difficult to imagine that they can move so fast. They’re on top of you before you know it.



We got the tidal push but the wind had other ideas. We raised the sails as we left the anchorage and were moving along nicely, for an hour. Then the wind got flukey and finally just died. I lived with it a lot longer than I thought I could, 4 minutes, then we had to furl the genoa and start the engine. That’s pretty much the way the day went, great wind for a great sail and then just nothing.

The United States Navy keeps the reserve fleet anchored in the James River and there had to be 40 or 50 large supply ship stored there. Some were pretty run down but others looked as if they were new. All of them were side tied together and anchored in one big wad.



We were under full sail when we got to Jamestown and a mile from the anchorage the wind disappeared and we were forced to motor again. It was still a great day and we have a very special anchorage with its own beach all to ourselves.

We took the dogs for a little workout on the beach and after dinner back on the boat we had visitors. Mr. & Mrs. Velcomvagon stopped by in their skiff to say hello. The were local sailors and were excited to see a sailboat this far up the river as its so far off the beaten path. They were out for a little after dinner cruise and were very nice and even asked if we wanted a ride to a grocery store or something. They were just another example of the nice people that we’ve met.