Log 138; Day 374; May 30, 2009; Norfolk, VA.

All of these pictures were taken in the Norfolk Harbor. This one is from our boat, looking south over the harbor

This is the USS Wisconsin (880 feet long, and 108 wide), we took the next pictures while dinghing around the ship

In this picture the mega yacht on the left if 221 feet long...but it looks like a run a bout next to the ship

This is a huge dregger that they use to keep the channel open

And it's attached to this large boat...the picture does not really show the size of this dregger

While we were in the dinghy, a large ship (Dove) came in the harbor

Not sure what building this is, but it is just across the harbor in Portsmouth, VA

Everywhere you turn you see military ships docked

This one is a supply ship

This sailing ship is the American Rover, which is parked just behind us at Waterside Marina. I watch these flags to tell me the wind direction and speed.

Deb loves these statues. This one is just across the way from us, and I watched as Deb talked someone into taking this picture for her.

Log 138
Day 374
Saturday, May 30, 2009

5:50 AM EDT
Location: Waterside Marina; Norfolk, VA.
Weather: 70 degrees with NNW winds @ 10; Going to 80 and sunny today.

I was up early this morning, because we decided to leave Norfolk (planned to stay for a week, but I got antsy, so we’re heading out 2 days early) but the winds are a little stronger than originally forecast, so I think we will sit here for a little while. The winds are nothing major, but at some reporting spots (out in the bay) they are blowing 15, with gusts to 20, so that is enough to keep me off the Chesapeake for a little while. Every forecast (about 6) tells me that the entire area winds are supposed to drop to light and variable by late morning, so we’ll keep watching that and see what happens.

We have enjoyed our time in Norfolk. Waterside Marina could not be more convenient to anything you want. Groceries; big mall; museums; theater; and lots of restaurants. It is also a hub of water activity, with boats moving in every direction, and all, just a few yards from our boat. I just sit on the back deck, and day dream. You see everything from small sail boats, to ocean going freighters, and Navy Ships. You also see every yacht heading north for the summer. It’s quite a sight...one I never get tired of. It’s also interesting to monitor all of the marine channels, and listen to the harbor activity. As an example; channel 6 is one where the working tugs get their information when they are up river; channel 13 is where the commercial traffic all talk to one another, each letting the other know of their intentions (my favorite); channel 14 is harbor control...similar to a control tower at an airport. You call harbor control and tell them what you want to do, and they will tell you if it’s ok, and what other traffic you will encounter; channel 16 is a hailing and distress channel. If you want to speak to another boat (or marina), you hail them on 16, and then go to another channel to speak to them (normally 68 if you are a pleasure craft). There are several other channels on the radio, but these are the main ones used. They also change, depending where you are located. As an example; in Florida, all bridges are on channel 9. In the Carolina’s the bridges are on 13. In Illinois the locks are on 14; in Ohio they are on 13. Anytime you switch locations you need to check to see what channels are the correct ones. Not doing so will cause someone to holler at you on the radio...or worse...get you in trouble you don’t need.

Along with getting several errands done, Deb and I took a nice dinghy ride around the harbor yesterday. Most of today’s pictures are from that dinghy cruise. When you see all of this, you certainly understand that Norfolk is a working harbor for military ships. Everywhere you turn, there are ships docked and major work being done on them. There is also a submarine dock up the waterway, but we did not go there in the dinghy. We will pass that harbor when we leave this morning.

Our plans...today we will be going about 50 miles to a small town on the western side of the Chesapeake (and the eastern shore of VA) called Deltaville, VA. It is one of those small water towns where the boats far out number the residents. They say 800 residents, and 3000 boats. We have never stopped there before, but it is a nice jump off the Chesapeake, and makes the day a 50 mile run verses a hundred mile run, to the Solomon’s...our next stop. Our current plan is to spend 2 days in Deltaville, then on to the Solomon Islands for a couple of days, before continuing north up the Chesapeake.

Well...as hard as this may be to believe, while I have been writing this log, the winds have died down almost to nothing. Behind us, is a very large sailing vessel called the American Rover, with 3 large masts, and 6 different flags. When I started (a little before 6) these flags were blowing quite hard. Now (6:45) they are light and variable, and at times not blowing at all. The harbor was choppy, and now it just has a light chop on it. I guess it is time to get the boat ready to shove off.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 137; Day 373; May 28, 2009; Waterside Marina; Norfolk, VA

As you travel the waterways, there are lots of thes Osprey that build their nests in the day markers on the ICW. It's like they all got together, and said..."ok...this is how we build them, and we should all build them in the day markers. The boaters will think this is cool". They're right.

Some of the first signs of Norflok is you start seeing HUGE ships

And...lots of ship yards. Rumor has it that the USS Cole (the one the terrorists blew a hole in) in in this Norfolk getting a new bow put on it.
This is the view as we are coming off the ICW and into downtown Norfolk. Our marina is straight ahead with the light blue roof

A view of the marina from the waterfront shopping area

A view of the water front from our boat

Once upon a time there were supposed to have been 100 mermaids statues in the Norfolk area. Now they say there are 17 left

Some not as pretty as others

I think Deb has found most of them

Sitting at Hooters...you can see Headquarters in the backround

Lots of Naval "stuff" in this area

This is the USS Wisconsin that is now mothballed, but can go back into action, should there be a war

Again...the USS Wisconsin...one of the largest, and one of the last, battleships built by the US Navy. It earned 5 battle stars during WWII. It's amazing how big these ships are

Could be the last supper, with the 6 of us together...but I doubt it.

Good News (out front) and Salvage Crew leaving Norfolk this morning and heading up the York River to Yorktown

Log 137
Day 372
Thursday, May 28, 2009

8:30 AM EDT
Location: Waterside Marina; Norfolk, VA.
Weather: 75 degrees with calm winds; Going to 80 and sunny today.

It is a perfect morning. Bright sun. Calm winds. Great temperature. It would be a great day for cruising, but we are planning to stay another few days in Norfolk. We just helped Good News and Salvage Crew untie their lines, and watched them head out. They are heading for Yorktown, VA, where Mary will hook up with one of her friends, for a few days. We thought this would be our last time together, but based on our schedules, we may hook up with them again, as we all head up the Chesapeake.

Getting here...from Coinjock is an fairly easy run of about 49 miles. Like so much of the ICW, it is a combination of open water, and very narrow channels. As soon as you leave Coinjock, the waterway opens up into a wide span of water, but it is very deceiving, because the channel is shallow, and very narrow. More than once we were (what we thought was) in the channel, and the depth finder told us to slow down and find deeper water. About 1/2 way to Norfolk, the ICW follows backwater rivers, that twist and turn, and you never know what is around the next bend. The closer you get to Norfolk, the narrower the waterway, but also the deeper the water. Then finally, about 3 miles from Norfolk, the waterway turns into a very commercial, and very busy place. I love the feeling of coming into the Norfolk harbor.

We arrived in Norfolk about noon on Monday, Memorial Day. We thought the waterway would be incredibly busy (because of the holiday), but it was not bad at all. The marina we chose was Waterside Marina, a place we stopped at 17 years ago, and 9 years ago. The marina is right downtown, and you have access to everything, including a grocery store; a very nice mall; and more restaurants than you can imagine. About 4 pm, Good News, and Salvage Crew made to the marina. They took the Dismal Swamp route, and while they were adamant that “everyone should take this route at least once”, everything they said about it, made us glad we chose the Virginia Cut. After a long day of cruising, no one wanted to cook on board, so we all went up to Hooters (a stones throw away from our boat) for dinner. For those of us who had the wings...we were disappointed. The burger folks (Brad and Patti) were delighted.

Tuesday...was a day of getting our bearings, and doing some odd jobs. The girls went to the grocery store, and the guys stayed on the boats to catch up on maintenance items. At lunch time, Andy; Mary; Deb; and I went back up to Hooters to try the burgers, and Brad and Patti were right...they were great. Deb and I then took a walk to the mall just to stretch our legs, and check it out. It has been 9 years since we were last here, and the mall still looks very nice. Not much shopping going on, but a great mall, none the less. The Sarver’s and the Salvage’s went to the Nauticus, and toured the Naval Museum. For dinner, we all met on Good News and had lemon chicken, that Andy cooked on the grill.

Wednesday...I took a walk around town first thing in the morning, and ended up stopping at the grocery store to check out the wine supply, that the girls had told me about. Great selection. At 10, the girls walked in to town, and to the mall. The guys jumped in the dinghy to head across the channel to Portsmouth, VA, and Tidewater Marina. We putzed around the store for a while; had a great BBQ sandwich in their restaurant; and picked up some oil and filters for Brad to do his oil change. We were back at the boat by 2. The late afternoon was spent working on cruising plans, and for dinner we met on Good News, for crab cakes that Mary and Deb made. I’m not a big lover of crab cakes...but these were good.

Today...will be spent running some more errands. Yesterday, when I was at the store they told me that if I am a senior citizen (I’m over 55...doesn’t that count?) and I buy wine on Thursday, I get an extra 5% off. Also, if I buy 6, I get an additional 5% off. If I buy 12, I get an additional 10% off. So...I’m going to buy some wine. We also need to go back to the mall to pick up my watch, that we dropped off to get repaired. After that...who knows. With such a beautiful day, you have to go and do something. What I wish we were doing was heading out, and going cruising...but Monday will come soon enough, and this is a great place to spend some time.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 136; Day 368; May 24, 2009; Coinjock, NC

A lot of pictures today, covering the last 3 days of travel.

It's about 6 am here, and Deb is already excited, and enjoying the day. Here we are leaving Oriental, NC and heading NE up the Pamlico Sound towards Belhaven, NC

This is our marina (Belhaven Waterway Marina) in Belhaven. We were tied to the right side of this finger pier...all the way toward land.

Belhaven is a very small (and seemingly poor) town in the eastern part of NC. I don't know the reason they had a crab in downtown...but it made for a good picture.


We left Belhaven at first light, and you can see here, the sun just starting to come up in the east, and the water is dead calm.

About 45 minutes after seeing that great sunrise, we turned into a narrow 20 mile channel and it was very foggy. What you can't see, is that there is a barge sitting just beyond that bridge that is sitting still, because it's too foggy to move. The good news was that by the time we got to the bridge, the fog had lifted, and we had no issues.

That channel that was foggy turned into a channel that was lined with stumps on both sides for almost the entire 20 miles...about 1/3 of the way we hit something under the water. The good news was it did not hit the prop, so there was no damage.

Our stop on Saturday was at Aligator River Marina...which is really just a ditch with a few slips, right behind a shell gas station...in the middle of nowhere (20 miles to the closest town) But...it is perfectly located, so that most folks making the treck north and south stop here each year.
Like many places, many of the boaters gather on the docks at 5 pm to share stories. We were happy to join and tell ours.

For dinner, we joined Andy and Mary and Brad and Patti on the back of Salvage Crew. They have a huge deck...meant for entertaining.

As we left Aligator River Marina this morning it was another beautiful morning.

And a another beautiful sunrise

This is what much of the way across Albemarle Sound looked like

Lots of crab pots on the sound...and lots of these crabers to check their pots

Once we left Albemarle Sound we joined another channel...with more stumps. EVERYWHERE.

After a short 36 mile run we tied up at Coinjock Marina. Our slip for the night was behind that boat all the way up on the right.

Log 136
Day 368
Sunday, May 24, 2009

3:30 PM EDT
Location: Coinjock Marina, Coinjock, NC.
Weather: 85 degrees with winds at 15 mph out of the south. Thunder storms in the area.

I don’t normally write my logs in the afternoon...I guess I’m just a morning guy. But we are sitting in Coinjock, NC (as they say...a wide spot in the road) and I am watching the Indy 500, and I thought I’d try to do this today. Not sure I’ll finish this log this afternoon...but at least I’ll get it started.

Getting here...has taken us 3 days from the time we left Oriental (Mile 181). After spending 6 (very good) nights in Oriental, we were anxious to get cruising again. The Nor’easter that we had been waiting to go through, finally passed, and when we left on Friday morning, the winds were almost calm, and the Pamlico Sound was near perfect, with a light NE chop. The 48 miles to Belhaven was very similar to much of the ICW...open waters, with lots of narrow channels, but in this case there was more open water than normal. We left Oriental, joined the Neuse River, and the Pamlico Sound. After a few miles on a narrow Goose Creek, we crossed the Pamlico River, and then joined the Pungo River, which took us to Belhaven. Our friends on Good News and Salvage Crew were following us, and when we turned port to Belhaven, they went another 4 miles up to Dowry Creek Marina. Our slip in Belhaven was a “side-to” tie, in Belhaven Waterway Marina, a marina owned by a very nice couple. After tying up HQ, we went into town, and ate a nice lunch at Fish Hooks...and then spent the afternoon walking the town, and just relaxing on the boat. Dinner was a nice salad, and we finally got to watch the American Idol finals. Our guy won.

At first light on Saturday, we left Belhaven and got back on the Pungo River. It was a beautiful morning. As we were leaving our slip, Deb looked ahead to a spot on land and saw some fog, but the river was just fine. After about an hour on the Pungo River, the ICW joined the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal...which runs about 20 miles in a very narrow ditch (with lots of stumps just off the channel) before joining the Alligator River at mile 105. It was very foggy, when we entered the canal, but cleared up very quickly. For the next 20 miles it was no fun. It’s deep enough, but with the stumps just off the channel, it’s nerve racking. At one point we felt a big bump, as we hit something below the water, but we were fortunate that nothing hit the props. At mile 105 we joined the Alligator River, which is nice and wide, with a very forgiving channel. At mile 84 we went under the Alligator River swing bridge, and immediately turned hard port to our marina for the night...Alligator River Marina. Like many stops along the ICW, Alligator River Marina is nothing special, but it is a place to tie to, and it has cheap fuel (we got 225 gallons @ $1.86 per gallon). We also hooked up, again, with Good News and Salvage Crew. We enjoyed a nice afternoon “captain’s meeting” on the back of Salvage Crew. A 5 pm cocktail hour, on the docks with lots of other boaters. And went into the shell station (that happens to be the marina office, and a fast food convenient store) and picked up our dinner, that we ate on the back deck of Salvage Crew. It was a great day of boating.

Today, I was up at 4 am, and in the marina office/shell station/ convenient store for breakfast at 5 am. I thought for sure they would serve a great country breakfast...nope. Normally I have to wake Deb a few minutes before we leave the slip, but today, she was up, on her own, before 6 am...and 15 minutes later, we left the slip. Another beautiful morning on the waterway. The Alligator River turns into the Albemarle Sound, and it has a reputation of being a very tricky body of water...especially in any wind. The winds were predicted to pick up in late morning, and they were just starting to, as we left Albemarle, and joined the North River. 15 miles later, we were at mile 50, and our slip at Coinjock. Not a very big marina, but it has a very nice restaurant (that we do not plan to use) and is a big stop for folks heading both north and south.

Tomorrow...we plan to leave at first light, and go 50 ICW miles to Norfolk, Va. We also plan to hook up with Good News and Salvage Crew...probably for the last time on this trip. Today, they took the Dismal Swamp route to get to Norfolk, while we took the Virginia Cut. The Dismal Swamp route takes you through Elizabeth City, NC, and through about 30 miles of very rural; very rustic; and very narrow waterway. Some do it, because of the history (George Washington was supposed to have surveyed the route, and it was hand dug by slaves) but there are lots of war stories about hitting dead heads (water logged trees floating just below the surface) and having problems...so we chose to take the easier route...the Virginia Cut. Anyway...this is probably the last time with Good News and Salvage Crew because we are going to spend a week in Norfolk, and then take our time to get to Baltimore. Planning to arrive on June 13th. Good News and Salvage Crew need to push on, to get north, and on to Canada, in order to complete the loop, and back home before winter. We don’t plan to go any further than Long Island Sound, where we plan to spend most of August.

Well...it’s now 6 pm, over 2 hours after I first started this log. The Indy 500 is over, and the NASCAR race in Charlotte is getting ready to start. I have to be one of the most fortunate guys in the world.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob