Finally we were ready to go. Our crack of dawn departure turned into 11 am. A friend helped us off with our lines and we motored out of the creek into the mouth of the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay.
Our plan was to get as far as possible in the day, but the late start and the wind against us meant we got just over 20 miles before we decided we had better anchor for the night. We made our way into Horn Harbour, where we had stayed on our way up (and run aground by marker #8!). And, once again, we ran aground at marker #8! Slow learners. We were on a rising tide, so waited there for an hour, then floated off and were able to make our way into the harbour. It was dusk by the time we anchored, and there were some pretty Christmas lights decorating a dock next to us, reflected in the tranquil waters.
The waters of the east coast, and the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) are for a great part very shallow, and with the tidal differences it is not uncommon to run aground. Luckily most of the coast is also sandy so quite often no great damage is done. A lot of boaters, ourselves included, take out membership in Boat USA, which is like a CAA for boaters. Different levels of memebership have different benefits, but the most popular benefit is the free towing you get! Otherwise to get a tow off a sandbar or for any other reason is horrifically expensive.
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