Chickahominy River ~ Evening Light

 

Kevin M. in his Marsh Cat little t 

 

A light breeze, little more than a breath, carries us off the beach and out into the river. A few hug the shore, others tack over and out into open water, looking for clear air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sail slowly into the slanting light. Eddie rides the eddy past the point, and pulls away for a bit, then is becalmed in the lee of the far shore.

The tide has now turned, though the current has not. It still flows upriver, and will for another hour. Not hard, but the wind is shy and from the same direction; not brave enough to lift us over the current and past the big bend.

Whatever magic spell carried Caesura so far ahead this morning must have continued upriver without me. I cannot seem to catch the others. It’s peaceful. There’s no sound but flocks of birds in the trees.

We continue for another hour, playing hide and seek with the wind. When the sun touches the treeline it’s evident we won’t make it back before dark. Kevin flakes his sail and cranks up the outboard. He throws a line that I wrap around a knee and we motor up to the others. Eddy at first refuses a tow (it’s a running joke), and we putter past at two and a half knots. I look back to see him relent and take a tow from Harris, as does Dennis, and soon the three are following in a train.

Even under power it will take us over an hour to get back. Plenty of time to take in the view. As Kevin and I pass the bridge the sun drops below the clouds, flooding everything in a golden light. Beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the marina we tie up and get settled in time to watch the others slip in at sunset.

 

Not a bad day.

 

Sail track:

Detail:

 

 

 

4 Replies to “Chickahominy River ~ Evening Light”

  1. Thanks Barry! Had the current been reversed, you likely would have rolled ahead. I figure the contrary current gave the “bigger” boats steerage unlike earlier in the day. Nice photos, and memories, as always. (Let’s see if we make it past the censors).

    1. You know, I’ve been thinking about that quite a bit, and have a theory I like, and may put it in a post soon. I might have to diagram it to make sense. I don’t think it was the current direction that made such a difference, but the wind. And now that you mention it, if true, what added speed going downwind would have the opposite effect going up. Maybe more on that soon.

  2. Barry, I think you had it right, less current along the shore Maybe an eddie but a little less breeze, we got suckered by the zephyr out in the main channel and as I watched the current go by the can out there it was still relatively strong, very frustrating; not to take anything away from Una and Eddie, she ‘dusted’ me last week on Mobjack Bay!

    Barry, beautiful work and art! Thanks, H

  3. Yup, I was hoping for enough wind to carry me across the current to the next eddy. No such luck. Every time to got half way across the wind would die and the current would carry me back to start over.

    I just posted the sail tracks. You can see the wandering path.

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