Tangier Island

31 August 2019

On our way down the bay we saw this wreck near the eastern shore, perched on the one patch of skinny water in the area. I think we passed by too far to the west on our way up to see it. I can't decide if it was placed here intentionally, since it seems to have been used for target practice. If not, someone had a really bad day.

As we closed in on Tangier Island we started losing cell service, almost like one of those scary movies.

The dock is on an inlet that kind of divides the island, with water rushing back and forth with the tides, which were slightly offset on either side of the island. The marina is Park’s Marina, and 88 year old Mr. Park was there on the dock giving instructions. I’m sure each of us was thinking “what a weird accent”, and that combined with our hearing there was not nearly as much communicating as talking. But an interesting guy. His daughter is the 65 year old doctor running the clinic on the island.

We were supposed to be on the bulkhead, but the folks already there decided to stay another day. The old wooden docks had tiny finger piers so we had to back in so we could get off the boat. Heather backed us up to the slip and started the turn in, but again the current was really pushing us sideways so we really had to warp us in with quite a bit of reverse engine power. We made it in without contacting the sailboats on either side so that’s a win.

We started to take a walk in search of dinner. The plaque below was on the way into "town". It took us a while before we saw a car rather than golf carts, and later we saw one truck. Other than that it was walking and golf carts to get around the island.

We had run slightly aground in the mud approaching the dock, and once in we had 0.4 to 0.2 feet and falling, until we were definitely solidly nestled in the mud. Half tide rising wasn’t until 10:30 in the morning, so we weren’t going to be getting an early start. But the weather was beautiful and cool. There was a nice breeze but the gusts were getting well into the teens, which is nice enough sitting at the dock, but could become trouble when we are trying to leave. We never did get a cell signal while on the island, and I'm not sure Mr. Park has heard of wifi, so we had a little bit of a news blackout on the weather front for 12-16 hours.

Next stop is Cape Charles, another place on the Eastern shore that we haven’t been to before. Plan A is to stay two days so we don’t go through Norfolk on the holiday weekend, but hurricane Dorian may put enough pressure on us to go for it anyway.

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