Heading into Virgina

5/18/16    To 36 43.283N,  76 14.511W    Great Bridge Free Dock    12.6NM

Looking at the depth gauge as we headed to the ICW in the morning, I wasn't sure we'd have chosen to anchor where we did.  To be sure, we never touched, but there was only about a foot of water under the keel as we left.  Apparently when the S wind died, the water eased back, having been pushed up a bit by the wind (while there may be a little tidal change here, the water levels are driven by the wind). 

It had been a quiet night.  I watched as a tug pushed a barge past us around 0100, when I was up briefly during the night.  I glanced out and was surprised to see a bright light by the bridge just S of us, and decided to watch as it approached.  The ICW has a few subtle turns here, marked by lighted day marks ('R32' was one of them) and while I knew we were fine, it was interesting to watch the tug head at us before negotiating the turn.  Other than the roving spot light (he lit us up several times) there was hardly a ripple on the water as the combo past us.

This lone cypress stands at the edge of the channel with a host of stumps, an indication of the damage caused by large wakes 

When we arrived at the North Landing Bridge, we were  surprised to see 2 tug/barge combos parked on the bank of the channel, just shy of the bridge (including the one I'd seen), and wondered why, since the bridge tender said he'd open for us.  We'd missed the second comment the tender made when we requested an opening, but it was obvious when only 1 side of the bridge opened - not wide enough to accommodate the barges, but enough for us.

On the VHF, we heard Centerville Turnpike Bridge holler on the VHF at the sail boat ahead of us for throwing a wake (I didn't know a sail boat could throw a wake, especially when slowed awaiting an opening).   The problem was workers were doing repairs on the fender at the bridge. However, he had a problem getting the bridge to open, and we were told to stand by while he worked on it.  This wasn't a big deal other than the Great Bridge bridge also has a schedule and if we were delayed too long, we'd miss the 1000 opening (it's on an hourly schedule) which wouldn't be a problem if there was space on the free dock just before the bridge.  When Leonard contacted Great Bridge, the tender said we were close enough he'd hold it for us.  Good thing, since the dock below the bridge was full.

Lots of space on the free dock between the bridge and the lock

The free dock between the bridge and lock had plenty of space, and with little wind, we had an uneventful docking.  This dock was our preferred dock, a bit closer to the laundromat and supermarket, and we planned to take advantage of both.  Given the wind forecast for Thursday, we planned on waiting until noon before going through the lock to avoid the restrictions at the RR bridge at mile 5.8, and stopping at Hospital Point in Norfolk.

The Elizabeth River viewed from Bells Mills Park

Wanting to get some exercise beyond the the walk to the laundromat, Leonard found Bells Mill Park nearby on Google maps.  Some place new to explore!  It was an open tract of land along the Elizabeth River (non navigable here), with a couple of loop trails, an interesting walk that seemed miles from the nearby city.  We learned why the road we take to the shopping center has so much traffic - we passed all the city and county government facilities and offices with packed parking lots, on the way to the park.

We also walked across the canal to check out the viewing platform overlooking the marsh.  In the fall we saw several red tailed hawks looking for a meal, however no birds were flying this time.  Some kind of event was taking place in the park by the other free dock - several food trucks, a variety of display tents, a group of string performers setting up to play, and several of Chesapeake's fire trucks.  A sign offered a historical tour of the Great Bridge battle ground, but by then, we were tired and ready to go back to the boat.

String group preforming 'America the Beautiful'

5/19/16   To 37 06.367N,  76 19.347W    Back River  30.7NM

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear, with little of the wind that had been forecast.  If we'd known, we would have gone to the supermarket for provisions before going for a walk, so we could have departed and timed our trip to clear the RR bridge before the 0900 restriction and clear Gilmerton Bridge at the 0830, after that restriction lifted.  Hindsight is wonderful, and so are accurate weather forecasts.  Although the forecast for clouds and showers Thursday turned out to be correct, and it was sprinkling by the time we walked to the store.

We locked through at 1200 along with 9 other vessels, 7 of which were big sport fish or large motor yachts.  With that many boats, it takes a longer to get lines ashore and thus requires more time to transit the lock (we went up a few scant inches).  It was 1235 by the time we departed the lock, the last boat out, since it made more sense to let power boats go first. 

N&S RR Bridge (with the restrictions) and the 'new' Gilmerton lift bridge just beyond

It was not our day for RR bridges.  Although we didn't arrive at the N&S RR bridge until 1330, it was down, and we waited with Samba, the other sail boat, for it to go up.  Then we heard him call the Old Virginia RR bridge which should have been open, but they also had repair crew on the bridge and it was down.  The crew needed to check something before the bridge would open, which took close to 20 minutes.  Wouldn't have mattered much anyway since the Belt Line RR (3rd and last), was closed for train traffic.  How could we get it so wrong?  Fortunately the Belt Line bridge was going up by the time we cleared the Old Virginia bridge.  At least the Gilmerton Bridge lifted in a timely fashion.  The Gilmerton was recently reconstructed, but instead of a 65' clearance (or greater, like the nearby Jordan Bridge), the new one has a 38' clearance, with a lift mechanism for big ocean going vessels (and sail boats).

The Old Virginia RR Bridge going up - Jordan high rise and Belt Line RR bridge (down) beyond as we head toward Norfolk

It's always interesting to see the wide variety of ships, both Naval and other, as we pass through the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area.  This trip was no different nor disappointing.  None of the Naval vessels departed as we passed by the docks, but there was a stream of tug/barge combos plying the waters.  We saw everything from a tall ship arriving under full sail to a tiny harbor pusher tug (and a lot in between).  Here are some photos of those we found interesting.

The American Rover under full sail heading for Norfolk

We have no idea why this ship, '#3,' has open sides
Editor's note: see this Link

The 'Jason Dunham' an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer built in 2009, reminds me of Columbus' vessels

2 Naval vessels, each with #5, docked next to each other(also saw 2 #3s)

'Ike' - #2 of 10 Nimitz Class Nuclear Air Craft Carriers, commissioned in 1977

'Teddi C' - a little harbor 'pusher tug'

'Jack Holland' a much bigger pusher tug

Long Island, a 'Dr. Seuss' tug with a raised pilothouse to see over barges - our kids gave them that name back in the 70's

I spotted this strange catamaran on a dock, but have no idea of its purpose

If we believe the weekend forecast, we'll need to hole up somewhere Saturday while the cold front passes E, which may develop into a nor'easter with winds pushing toward 25kts.  With that in mind, we wanted to go further than Norfolk for the day.  Fortunately, the current god didn't desert us.  Although we missed part of the ebb waiting for the RR bridges, we did have some, and we arrived at the bottom of the bay around slack tide, giving us a slight boost as we headed up the bay - much better than a knot against us.   Although with all the recent rain in the area the last 2 weeks, we'll probably deal with runoff (only goes down stream) as well as tidal current.

Lynnea