Chapter 53: Memorial Day in Norfolk

Log 53
Memorial Day in Norfolk

4:10 PM
Memorial Day
Monday, May 29, 2000
Waterside Marina
Norfolk, VA.

Have you ever heard of a Nor’easter? Have you ever been in one? Me either…until today. At least that’s what the dock master just told us is happening. Here are some of the conditions happening as we speak:
· Winds at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (about 2 miles from where we are) are 40 mph
· Seas are 6 to 11 feet depending on where you are on the Atlantic
· Tides..3 feet above normal
· In the marina where we are they will have to turn the power off, because the water will be over the power boxes. We are lucky enough to be on a floating dock, so we should be fine. People who are tied to the fixed pier (which will be under water in about 20 minutes) will have a time of it, until the tide goes out. The water is up to the bottom of the pier, and high tide is not for another 3 hours (according to the dock master) it will be interesting to see how they handle their boats.
· The winds at the marina are about 15 to 20 mph. (I just asked Deb what she thought they were and she said “oh I don’t know, it seems like about a hundred to me”
· The boat is rocking from the winds hitting us directly on the side
· It is pouring down rain, and it’s coming sideways

During all of this, what have we been doing?

The morning was spent doing some organizing. Me with work, and Deb with the checkbook. I kept thinking the rain would let up, but it has just kept getting worse. We tried to go out a couple of times, but the rain kept us inside. Then at about 2 o’clock, we said the heck with it, and put on our rain gear, and went out. It was pouring! We walked around the marina, and to the small mall, which borders our marina. Inside people looked at us a little funny in our rain suits (well actually they looked at Debbie funny, because hers is yellow), but we got used to it. They were having a small jazz concert inside with a young band, so we sat and watched, while we had a beer. I got tired of that in a hurry, so we decided to head back out, and if possible it seemed like the rain had gotten even worse.
As we were walking back we ran into a guy dressed in an expensive rain suit, and assuming he was on a sailboat, we asked him where he came in from. He said they came in today from about 50 miles away, but they came up the Intracoastal today, because it was so rough outside. In fact he said he was talking to another boat that came in from the outside, and they said they were dealing with some 23 footers. Can that be? I don’t know, but that’s what he said.
What I do know is that I’m just real glad we’re here. Yesterday when I listened to the weather I knew we needed to get going, and cross the Albemarle Sound because it was predicted to get worse. And were they ever right. If we would have been behind one more day, we’d be sitting for a couple of days in the “convenient store, almost a marina” on the Alligator River.
Instead we’re in a great marina in downtown Norfolk, and doing fine. While all of this weather is going on outside, Deb and I are inside the boat, watching all of the action. The temperature is a perfect 72 degrees. She is making spaghetti for dinner. I am typing this log, and watching some old taped reruns of Andy Griffith. If I had a gin and tonic and some cashews, life would be almost perfect. The only thing that could make that better would be if I were reading a boating magazine.
Wait a minute. I have a boating magazine. I have gin, and I have tonic. I’ve also got plenty of cashews. All I need to do is end this log, and get to it.
And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

BK.

Ps. the water is over the dock now. (Deb’s outside taking a picture)