New sailor from Deltaville

[1camper]

Ahoy,
I'm an aspiring sailor who bought a boat first. Crazy huh? Well I've already learned alot around here and I hope to return my '75 Bristol 26' #223 to service, safely and in good order.
I joined today to introduce myself and to show some progress and of course benefit from your advice and experience, thanks.

-Tom

My sailboat "Mahogany"

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jcYKGUffeW2r9FtA8

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Tom.

[dcstrng]

Welcome, we had a B24 for nearly ten years (if it were just up to me, we’d probably still have it, but…) and although we never quite returned it to yacht-quality, it was a stout little cruiser that served us well and educated grandkids on sailing and the way of boats. Best of luck...

[thomm225]

Once you get your boat like you want it, Deltaville is in a great starting location for exploring the bay. The bay is about 20 miles wide there and 30 wide a few miles North so you'll have lots of space to practice.

You can sail straight across to Folly Creek and Onancock is just a bit North on that side. On the Western side you can sail South to Mobjack Bay or the Hampton Roads area or North to Annapolis and beyond.

[1camper]

Thanks for the welcome

Ya, I really like Deltaville. I've lived in Va all my life and had never been there, now it's my new happy place! I bought the boat on the hard there and have been working on it a year.
I changed the portlights to tempered glass (not a great idea), pulled out the head and filled those thru hulls. I changed the other two seacocks. Stripped and refinished the inside wood. Removed all the stantions and filled and fixed all the freshwater leaks. Faired the bottom and hull and painted them. Now I have to replace the rubber rubrail and standing rigging, hope to splash this summer.
I bought this boat because it checked all my boxes and I didn't think I'd find another one that did...and I haven't. I was looking for the smallest boat I could imagine my wife and I staying in for a week that took an outboard in a lazerette.
Deltaville is a great place to explore with many destinations within a day or so away. My long term plans are to take it to Elizabeth City and points south from there..

Thanks again for the welcome, hope to meet some of you along the way.
-Tom

[drakes]

Hey Welcome

I would check out these guys too


https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...oatowners/info


Pretty good owners group.

[Sparx]

Tom, Welcome to the forum. You have a great boat, at looks like it will be in very good shape when you launch.

As others have noted you are in a great cruising location. Home base for me is just across the river.

[1camper]

I'm really excited about exploring the area. I've been using an ICW explorer app and discovering the different marinas and rates around..very happy where I am. It's amazing to me how much prices go up on the western side of the Chesapeake north of the Rappahannock river. Really makes that eastern side look inviting..

[thomm225]

There's free anchoring near the Wharf in Onancock. The creek is about 5 miles long and 8' deep. They have a small dinghy dock also and you can get a slip if you want

https://www.waterwayguide.com/featur...ck-town-marina

You can anchor near the mouth of the Creek at Parker's Marsh also and it's a very nice spot usually

[1camper]

Thanks for the tip!..ya, that's the guide I've been using and that area is on my short list. You can spend some time looking at that guide..it's a great resource.
My wife and I drove thru the eastern shore a couple months ago, we stopped in Cape Charles and checked out the town and marina...there's a lot to like over there. Looking at google maps, I'm almost exactly the same distance from Onancock as I am from Deltaville, I wouldn't have guessed that..

[thomm225]

Cape Charles Yachting Center has a deal whereby in Winter you can store your boat there from like September thru April for the price of the haul out and power wash which for your boat would be around $300.00

A slip near Onancock for a month is around $140-$165/month

I went to Onancock High School when it was still open as did Governor Ralph Northam who is about 3 years younger than I am. This is a better yearbook picture than the last one that came out recently

[1camper]

Lol...I was never a big fan of the gov but thought he got a bad rap with the yearbook pic. Would've loved to see that moonwalk!

Wow..that is a good deal for the haulout! Certainly worth considering a winter over there. That's about the same slip rate I have in Deltaville, a little cheaper on the hard, so I'm in no real hurry, just want to make steady progress and do things as well as I can.

[1camper]

Double post