At one time Deltaville, VA, was the wooden boat boatbuilding capital of the Bay, and today those same skills and traditions carry on in the many boatyards that line the creeks of the peninsula. The concentration of skilled technicians here is unusual. Boaters up and down the Bay have learned that this Bayside village is the place to go to get competent boat service without the big town prices. On Broad Creek alone there are eight boatyards with nine Travelifts and three additional marinas. On Jackson Creek there is another large yard with two Travelifts, and in Fishing Bay there is a boatyard with a lift and a large railway. They say that there are 3000 boat slips in Deltaville and only 800 full time residents with a strong boating inclination.
Lying 36 miles north of Hampton Roads, VA, and 48 miles south of Solomons, MD, Deltaville is a very convenient stopping point for cruising boats transiting the Bay. In spring and fall the anchor lights of the snowbirds illuminate Fishing Bay at night. Jackson Creek is a popular well-protected anchorage, and you will see boats of many different nationalities at anchor there. The variety of marinas in Broad Creek attract hundreds of snowbirds each season. Yacht and cruising clubs host their rendezvouses here every year. For many cruisers, Deltaville is just that, a convenient anchorage on the way past in the fall and in the spring.
Deltaville has the prerequisite stores for a cruiser: a grocery store, Super West Marine, ABC store, post office, Hurd’s Hardware, Nauti Nell’s Gifts and Marine Consignments, and other interesting shops and restaurants. However, Deltaville lacks a village center: the shopping and restaurants are spread out in a line along a two- or three-mile stretch of General Puller Highway which bisects the peninsula. A bicycle comes in mighty handy. Most marinas offer loaner bikes, and several marinas offer loaner cars. Several of the restaurants and even the grocery store have been known to pick up and deliver customers at the marinas. This combined with the helpfulness of the locals means that getting around is never an issue in the town of Deltaville.
For years, people knew Deltaville supported two West Marine Stores. They have now been merged into a large West Marine Superstore with an excellent inventory. As expected, the deep maritime roots in Deltaville mean that the staff is exceptionally knowledgeable and yet open and friendly as you expect to find in small town America. Maggie, the long time manager has now been promoted but Paula (a circumnavigator), Ava, Victoria, Winterann, and all the rest of the crew have a lot of knowledge and experience.
Hurd’s Hardware store is a Bay icon. It is a typical small town hardware store with friendly and helpful staff. Jack Hurd’s family has been in Deltaville forever, and three generations of family will be found at the store everyday. Sam is a really great problem solver for cruisers who need some outside help finding creative solutions. You need a piece of stainless steel all thread rod in a metric size? Did you drop a 10 mm ss bolt overboard? Yup, they have it. Whether you seek plumbing parts, electrical supplies, or tools, Hurd’s has it. If they don’t, you probably do not need it.
There are several restaurants in Deltaville. One is accessible by boat or dinghy. The Railway on Broad Creek serves cold beer and hot meals. In the heart of town, the venerable Taylor’s Restaurant sits just across the street from Hurd’s and a few steps away from the Post Office. Antonio’s Pizza and Top China restaurant bookend the ABC store about half way down the road to the Deltaville Market.
The Deltaville Maritime Museum is always an interesting stop. After a devastating fire destroyed the Museum in 2012, the local volunteers pitched in and have rebuilt it bigger and better. The museum is accessible by dinghy. At the main dock, you will see FD Crockett, the 63-foot long, log built, Chesapeake buy boat, built in 1924. FD Crockett worked carrying freight, dredging oysters and crabs, as well as transporting produce for 70 years. In 1994, she was converted to use as a recreational vessel. By 2005 when she was donated to the Deltaville museum, rot had claimed much of her deck and superstructure. Over the next eight years she would be completely rebuilt by the museum volunteers known as the “Crocketteers.” FD Crockett can now be found at most every waterfront festival on the Chesapeake.
Looking for orange beets, purple peppers, or artisanal cheese? You may find the farmers’ market on the grounds of the Museum the last Saturday of the month (April through September). There are dozen of artists and crafters displaying their creations. In the evening after each monthly market, return to the museum grounds for the outdoors concert “Grooving in the Park.” There is plenty of daylight spring through fall to allow you to dinghy back to your boat after enjoying and evening concert featuring local musicians.
Among the many reasons to visit Deltaville, here is another one: extend your season and cruise the Chesapeake with new destinations. After many years cruising in the Upper Bay, job relocation to Deltaville gave us our first exposure to cruising in the Southern Bay. We had cruised the northern and middle Bay, but our reaction to the Southern Bay? What a different experience! The southern Bay is much less crowded; scanning the horizon on a busy day, you will only see 20 boats. It is generally possible to get a transient slip with little advanced warning. There are many secluded anchorages where finding even one other boat makes it a crowded anchorage. There are long stretches of undeveloped shoreline, and in the middle of the Chesapeake off Deltaville you cannot see the shore in any direction. Every year, a number of boats from Baltimore, Rock Hall, and Annapolis head south and overwinter in Deltaville for the longer season, new cruising grounds, and access to great boatyards.
From Deltaville, you will explore the Southern Bay, a region you will find is very different from what boaters are used to up north. If the wind is from the north, you can head south to the Piankatank River, or to the four rivers that make up Mobjack Bay, or head to historic Yorktown. If the wind is from the south, you can head north to Fleets Bay, Irvington, and Reedville, as well as the beautiful anchorages of the Potomac.
From Deltaville, the Eastern Shore, Smith Island, Tangier, Crisfield, Onancock, and Cape Charles are a day away and offer unique and different perspectives on the Chesapeake. Is the Bay too rough? No problem, the Rappahannock River is itself as a great cruising ground with the historic colonial era towns of Irvington and Urbanna. The Corrotoman River with its many secure and secluded anchorages has its own cruising guide. When the Bay is rough, you will not be confined to your marina in Deltaville.
Deltaville holds itself as the Boating Capital of the Chesapeake. After you have spent some time exploring the Bay from Deltaville, I think you’ll agree.
by Tom Hale
Lying 36 miles north of Hampton Roads, VA, and 48 miles south of Solomons, MD, Deltaville is a very convenient stopping point for cruising boats transiting the Bay. In spring and fall the anchor lights of the snowbirds illuminate Fishing Bay at night. Jackson Creek is a popular well-protected anchorage, and you will see boats of many different nationalities at anchor there. The variety of marinas in Broad Creek attract hundreds of snowbirds each season. Yacht and cruising clubs host their rendezvouses here every year. For many cruisers, Deltaville is just that, a convenient anchorage on the way past in the fall and in the spring.
Deltaville has the prerequisite stores for a cruiser: a grocery store, Super West Marine, ABC store, post office, Hurd’s Hardware, Nauti Nell’s Gifts and Marine Consignments, and other interesting shops and restaurants. However, Deltaville lacks a village center: the shopping and restaurants are spread out in a line along a two- or three-mile stretch of General Puller Highway which bisects the peninsula. A bicycle comes in mighty handy. Most marinas offer loaner bikes, and several marinas offer loaner cars. Several of the restaurants and even the grocery store have been known to pick up and deliver customers at the marinas. This combined with the helpfulness of the locals means that getting around is never an issue in the town of Deltaville.
For years, people knew Deltaville supported two West Marine Stores. They have now been merged into a large West Marine Superstore with an excellent inventory. As expected, the deep maritime roots in Deltaville mean that the staff is exceptionally knowledgeable and yet open and friendly as you expect to find in small town America. Maggie, the long time manager has now been promoted but Paula (a circumnavigator), Ava, Victoria, Winterann, and all the rest of the crew have a lot of knowledge and experience.
Hurd’s Hardware store is a Bay icon. It is a typical small town hardware store with friendly and helpful staff. Jack Hurd’s family has been in Deltaville forever, and three generations of family will be found at the store everyday. Sam is a really great problem solver for cruisers who need some outside help finding creative solutions. You need a piece of stainless steel all thread rod in a metric size? Did you drop a 10 mm ss bolt overboard? Yup, they have it. Whether you seek plumbing parts, electrical supplies, or tools, Hurd’s has it. If they don’t, you probably do not need it.
There are several restaurants in Deltaville. One is accessible by boat or dinghy. The Railway on Broad Creek serves cold beer and hot meals. In the heart of town, the venerable Taylor’s Restaurant sits just across the street from Hurd’s and a few steps away from the Post Office. Antonio’s Pizza and Top China restaurant bookend the ABC store about half way down the road to the Deltaville Market.
The Deltaville Maritime Museum is always an interesting stop. After a devastating fire destroyed the Museum in 2012, the local volunteers pitched in and have rebuilt it bigger and better. The museum is accessible by dinghy. At the main dock, you will see FD Crockett, the 63-foot long, log built, Chesapeake buy boat, built in 1924. FD Crockett worked carrying freight, dredging oysters and crabs, as well as transporting produce for 70 years. In 1994, she was converted to use as a recreational vessel. By 2005 when she was donated to the Deltaville museum, rot had claimed much of her deck and superstructure. Over the next eight years she would be completely rebuilt by the museum volunteers known as the “Crocketteers.” FD Crockett can now be found at most every waterfront festival on the Chesapeake.
Looking for orange beets, purple peppers, or artisanal cheese? You may find the farmers’ market on the grounds of the Museum the last Saturday of the month (April through September). There are dozen of artists and crafters displaying their creations. In the evening after each monthly market, return to the museum grounds for the outdoors concert “Grooving in the Park.” There is plenty of daylight spring through fall to allow you to dinghy back to your boat after enjoying and evening concert featuring local musicians.
Among the many reasons to visit Deltaville, here is another one: extend your season and cruise the Chesapeake with new destinations. After many years cruising in the Upper Bay, job relocation to Deltaville gave us our first exposure to cruising in the Southern Bay. We had cruised the northern and middle Bay, but our reaction to the Southern Bay? What a different experience! The southern Bay is much less crowded; scanning the horizon on a busy day, you will only see 20 boats. It is generally possible to get a transient slip with little advanced warning. There are many secluded anchorages where finding even one other boat makes it a crowded anchorage. There are long stretches of undeveloped shoreline, and in the middle of the Chesapeake off Deltaville you cannot see the shore in any direction. Every year, a number of boats from Baltimore, Rock Hall, and Annapolis head south and overwinter in Deltaville for the longer season, new cruising grounds, and access to great boatyards.
From Deltaville, you will explore the Southern Bay, a region you will find is very different from what boaters are used to up north. If the wind is from the north, you can head south to the Piankatank River, or to the four rivers that make up Mobjack Bay, or head to historic Yorktown. If the wind is from the south, you can head north to Fleets Bay, Irvington, and Reedville, as well as the beautiful anchorages of the Potomac.
From Deltaville, the Eastern Shore, Smith Island, Tangier, Crisfield, Onancock, and Cape Charles are a day away and offer unique and different perspectives on the Chesapeake. Is the Bay too rough? No problem, the Rappahannock River is itself as a great cruising ground with the historic colonial era towns of Irvington and Urbanna. The Corrotoman River with its many secure and secluded anchorages has its own cruising guide. When the Bay is rough, you will not be confined to your marina in Deltaville.
Deltaville holds itself as the Boating Capital of the Chesapeake. After you have spent some time exploring the Bay from Deltaville, I think you’ll agree.
by Tom Hale