Two More Weather Days - Lloyd Creek

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

Days 55 - 56 - May 25 and May 26, 2017

Our night at Betterton was, to put it mildly, a bit uncomfortable. With two more days of Small Craft Advisories with winds 10-15 with gusts to 25 and waves to 2 feet facing us, we decided we needed a nice sheltered spot to wait out the weather. We found it!  Betterton is at the mouth of the Sassafras River and totally exposed to the north and east, Two miles further up the river is a spot called Lloyd Creek, which is really a pond sheltered from the river by a little island. Lloyd Creek however, is notorious for a difficult narrow entry with a sandbar extending out from the right side and fairly shallow waters inside. We followed the advice on the Active Captain reviews, which were to hug the left side of the shore on entry and trust the spot soundings to find a spot to anchor. This worked very well for us. We anchored at high tide in about 7 feet.

Lloyd Creek before Tthundershower Thursday afternoon

Thurdsay morning and afternoon Lloyd Creek was flat as a pancake. The little island has nice sandy spots to land a kayak, and Baxter enjoyed a couple of pretty good romps!  It was nice until through the later afternoon. The forecast for the evening, though, was for thunderstorms and rain. In the early evening, we heard distant thunder. Then it kept getting closer and closer! And finally, the mother of all electrical storms was directly overhead, and the sky opened up with a torrential rain storm. At least it washed the salt off Daydream! The wind accompanying the thunderstorm whipped Lloyd Creek into a frenzy with large waves breaking all around us. We were in the cockpit with our nifty florescent 12 volt lamp overhead snug as a bug in a rug and enjoyed the show. When the storm was past, the winds were still blowing hard but it finally calmed down and we enjoyed a peaceful night!

Pat and Baxter on shore pondering our return to the boat

Friday the wind blew hard and we were spinning on the hook all day. I had to take Baxter to shore as usual. In the morning it was a little bit difficult paddling back but not so much I was worried about it. Baxter was whining again about 2:00 p.m., so back we went. The wind and current were both favorable for the trip to shore...but when he was done with his business and I turned around to see what I would be facing paddling back, it did not look good. There were again significant waves (they look higher from a kayak than they do from a C-Dory 25!), so I dragged the kayak along the island to where I was directly opposite the boat with the shortest distance to go. I paddled like crazy and was able to make headway, but it was the most difficult paddle I have had so far! When I got alongside, the wind kept pushing me off, but finally Patty grabbed the blade of the paddle and we were able to get Baxter and me safely off the boat and get it tied up! But again it calmed down in the evening and we had another good night's sleep.

The forecast is completely different for the next three days. Saturday is supposed to be winds of less than 10 and flat water. Sunday will be a bit breezier but with waves less than 1 foot. So whatever weather fronts NOAA saw to post the Small Craft Advisories for the past two days have moved on, and so will we!