Mid Atlantic signs that Summer is ending, HURRICANE THREATS TOO!!...

 The end of summer is signaled by many events in the mid-Atlantic coastal states. For educators and pupils, it means the return to classrooms or academic posts.  For hunters, it is the opening of dove season.  Coastal fishermen see the southbound schools of tuna appear right after the big billfish tournaments in Ocean City, Md.  On the Chesapeake Bay, some better sailing starts to pick up with seasonal winds. And for cruisers there are those delightful prospects of cool Autumn nights without air conditioning...maybe coming, not yet in Chesapeake Bay Country, but maybe in Mid-October! For Jeanne and I, summer heat, scorching humid heat, has not broadened our boating venue.

One thing after another at Deltaville Boat Yard and us being at the tail end of their list of early Summer Launches has been delayed and delayed because of wet weather and other pesky things have kept us near the marina.....    Use of the boat locally and even at wharf's edge has had its merits of using systems that had lain fallow since the previous owner's death about 4 years ago. The entire experience has included staying at the beautiful modern Deltaville Marina on Jackson Creek immediately adjacent to DBY where boat refits are taking place.

Jacqui Ruse (804 776 8900) is the most gracious and personable manager of this facility which has constantly been undergoing revamping with new facilities including floating piers for most slips, and a newly dredged channel access which was completed at the end of 2017.  A courtesy vehicle is readily available to registered visitors! 

The final construction phases of a new "in-slip fueling system" was proceeding when we last journeyed to SIGMACHI.

Cruisers enjoying the Chesapeake Bay as a destination this Fall or as a "layover on their way south" for the winter...maybe we'll see ya at Deltaville Marina...or maybe sometime after mid-October we might join you for a bit as we hope to cast off for a "first leg" of our own...meandering southbound aboard SIGMACHI via the Dismal Swamp Canal and the Albermarle Loop!

The boat is beyond my expectations not only for a 1977 vessel...but for any vessel we might have afforded even with expanded refitting costs.

The refitting costs have grown with our use of systems...including the complete installation of a totally new HVAC system from wiring, new controls, to condensers, to thru-hull fittings with custom designed Cruise Aire parts...with the (hopefully) attendant warranty following us rather than "half system patches." Better this stuff be done at homeport than out on America's Great Loop!

Anyway..we are going to miss taking SIGMACHI to the MTOA NE Rendezvous in Cape Charles on Sep 10-14th...that decision was just forced upon us with finality recently by the delay in delivery of integral parts of the HVAC system to Deltaville.

FLASH!!  The appearance of Hurricane Florence off the southeast U.S. coast has raised concern with many MTOA'ers registered for the Cape Charles Rendevous. At 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 8, we received the following advisory from Tab Bass, the Southern Chesapeake Bay MTOA chairman: 

"After careful consideration of the latest forecasts, the 2018 MTOA Northern Rendezvous is on!   Please do come if you can get to Cape Charles safely!  We recognize that forecast sea conditions before and/or particularly after the scheduled rendezvous may lead many folks to cancel their cruise here - we completely understand!  Please come ONLY if cruising or driving conditions are safe for you.

If you can make it safely by boat or land yacht, please do consider coming to enjoy rendezvous camaraderie, presentations, dinners, etc.  The Kings Creek Marina (757-331-8640) and Kiptopeke Inn (757-331-1000) are now offering discounts to MTOA'ers for their rental properties during the rendezvous.  Please contact them directly for more info on this.  Please remember that all rendezvous meetings and dinners will be held inside the safe and air-conditioned Pearl Center located at the Kings Creek Marina.  We really hope you can make it!    Please reply to this email if you plan to cancel.  If you notify us of your cancellation registration fees will be refunded; failure to do so will result in forfeiture of registration fees. 

Thanks,
Talley & Jim Powell, Jean & Bruce Kraeuter, Rendezvous Chairs"                    

Hurricane or not, Jeanne declines and I am not very inclined to even try to stay aboard a vessel in the dog days of a hot muggy southern Chesapeake Bay in September without working air conditioning. We will drive to the events in Cape Charles arriving Tuesday the 11th!  Now, with the specter of a tropical storm or worse, apparently other rendezvous-bound MTOA'ers have likewise decided to attend in their motor vehicles rather than risk putting their boats in potentially dangerous situations!

The whole panoply of the assembly of representative MTOA cruising yachts of the NE United States will be quite an experience for Jeanne and me.  Too bad it won't be on our own vessel...

During the rendezvous, we hope to meet so many new to us members of MTOA and those who, like us, hold dual membership in the AGLCA..we've volunteered to be "roving photographers for the ambitious "almost daily picture postings" of this grand event!

AHOY, See you on the Bay, Cape Charles, or in Deltaville!

Til next time.....

Tight Lines!

Alan

Alan V. & Jeanne L. Cecil

M/V SIGMACHI

Email:  Sigmachimaritime@gmail.com