Reedville, VA

Reedville, with a National Historic District Main street know as Millionaire's Row, sits upon the shores of Cockrell Creek located near the entrance of the Great Wicomico River.  A review of my log from a year ago warns that Reedville is to be " avoided at all costs in an easterly wind" due to the fact that the waterfront is home to a menhaden (bunker) fishing industry about which there is a pungent "stink."

 Since 1874 when Elijah Reed brought his menhaden business south from Brooklin, ME to the Great Wicomico River, the seemingly endless bounty of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay has supported it.   By 1912, Virginia's Northern Neck had 15 large menhaden factories and about 60 ships to supply them.  Reedville was the center of the industry and was considered one of the wealthiest towns, per capita, in the country.

Today the single factory that is in operation is home to 13 ocean going vessels and processes 100,000 metric tons per year of the inedible menhaden- a quantity that makes Reedville the second largest fishing port in the US in terms of fish landed, Kodiak AK being number one.  Processed menhaden is a protein used in cat food, poultry and pig feed, and fertilizer; the fish oil is used in margarine, baking, perfumes, and as a source of Omega -3.
                                         
                                                                 Menhaden Fleet boat

 A tour of the wonderful Fishermen's Museum on Main Street reveals the history of the menhaden fishery, pound net fishing, the use of spotter planes to locate the vast schools of bunker ( a practice started by a "barnstormer" at the  end of WW1), and the fact that many of the 100-150' menhaden boats were conscripted into service during WW1 to serve as minesweepers in France.  The museum is home to a Deck boat "Elva," and 42' skipjack "Claud W. Somers" built in 1911; a sloop rigged wooden boat at one time used to dredge the plenteous oysters in the region.

Our stay in Reedville was extended as we waited the passing of a NE're that barreled through on Sat. and was responsible for dumping snow on regions North of here.  Sat. brought a delightful treat; a visit from Charmaine and David who we met in last winter in Islamorada where they were enjoying the warmth and relaxation aboard their yacht Dream Catcher. They were kind enough to pick us up at the marina in Reedville and they drove us to their lovely home on the Corrotoman River and provided us with a  tour of the local area, a greatly appreciated respite from the stormy conditions of the day.

This morning we departed Reedville and are rolling our way down the bay in 17kn easterly wind that has the 3-4' seas hitting us broad-side (not our most graceful tack, in fact the open container of soup that I placed on the counter promtply slid into the sink.)

 I'm happy to report that we are in the land of Pelicans!  It's so heart warming to watch them explode into the water surface as graceless as a brick.  We are also seeing Northern Gannet, a large white seabird with black wingtip and golden buff on it head, with a 37' wingspan they are almost as large as a Pelican (45" wingspan) and also a fish eater, but much more graceful as they dive into the water from up to 100.'

                                                                 Wolf Trap Lighthouse

Just passed Wolf Trap Lighthouse, est. 1893 a caisson tower with a light 52' above the water at mean high tide.  That tower replaced and earlier screw pile light house (like the one we saw at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels) that was in service from 1870-1893 when heavy ice floes cut the lighthouse free from its pilings, two days later it was found twenty miles away in two pieces.  No mention is made of the fate of the lighthouse keeper:(
In the picture, note the "out house" perched off the starboard side of the lighthouse,  in the middle of January how chilly do you think it was to answer the call of nature.

I just spent some quality time reading the blog: solotheamericas.org of Matt Rutherford a young man with a worthy cause (more on that later) who is attempting a non-stop solo circumnavigation of  the Americas sailing an Albin 27.  He departed from Annapolis (where else?) on June 11, 2011, since then has broken the record for single-handedly sailing the smallest boat through the Northwest Passage (where he rode out a typhoon.)   His journey is expected to take close to a year, currently he is 1300 miles west of Mexico. He has dedicated his journey to raise funds for CRAB, the non-profit organization Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating that makes the thrill of sailing a reality for physically and developmentally challenged individuals.  Check out his blog; it's inspirational, and/or you can make a contribution to CRAB at crabsailing.org.