Top Rack to Waterside (Norfolk) to Hampton Downtown Public Piers

Day #233; Loop Miles to Date = 3,040

We are now officially a bit behind on our blog posts...so let's try to catch up...

We ventured off last Wednesday to Norfolk...a really easy 10 mile trip, and docked right downtown at Waterside. It was easy walking to restaurants and some tourist sights. Highlights of this 2-day stop were some really awesome wings we found at a restaurant called the Brick Anchor Brew House...probably the best we have had on the loop...and the tour that we took of the Wisconsin Battleship that is berthed permanently in Norfolk. The Wisconsin in itself is simply awesome, and it is part of a museum complex called Nauticus, which we also spent time wandering around. We really enjoyed our time here, learning about the importance of Norfolk as a port in American history as well as in current times.

On Friday, we had another short day as we traveled to Hampton, VA and are staying at the downtown public piers...a really good deal as we are getting 4 nights dockage for the price of 3. The entire Hampton Roads area (Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth) has substantial historical significance in American History. This area played a major role in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and as well during WWll. We have been lucky, because our friends on ACT lll still have their friends car to drive around, so we and California Lady have had access to stuff that we would ordinarily need a rental car to see.

We spent a full day on Saturday touring the Yorktown Battlefield - very interesting, with much Revolutionary war history to absorb. And then yesterday we spent the day in the National Maritime Museum in Newport News. This was truly awesome...it is the home of the Monitor, the ironclad battleship that is being restored. If you recall, it was found back in the 90's in about 250' of water, 15 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras where it sunk during a storm shortly after the Civil War battle that it was so famous for. Most of the recoverable portions of it have now been raised, and they are in various stages of restoration at this museum. This was a fascinating day...we all left this experience with very full brains! There was so much history to learn (re-learn?) and this museum is definitely worth the effort for anyone heading this direction.

So in a nutshell...we spent a day in Norfolk focused on the WWll era, a day at Yorktown absorbed in the Revolutionary war, and a day at the Maritime Museum focused largely on the Civil War. It was like 3 years of high school history classes smashed into 3 days!

We are watching the weather, thankful that Tropical Storm Bonnie petered out for the most part. We are left with the rain after effects, but no real wind to deal with. Our plan is to set off tomorrow for our entry into the Chesapeake Bay...our tolerance for rain will dictate how far we go, and whether we choose to anchor out or snag a spot in a marina. We'd love to anchor out some, but we'll see.

  

While we were still at Top Rack, we went to downtown Portsmouth one night to go to the Commodore theater. This is a restored one-screen theater that now shows first run movies with a dining experience combined. It was a really fun outing...we all saw the new Iron Man - Captain America movie...had a blast.

The Naval Hospital in Portsmouth from the water.

Norfolk has a certain fascination with mermaids, as seen here and below. These sculptures were everywhere...this is just a sampling.

Pics of the Wisconsin Battleship will simply not do it any justice. Just for reference, that little boat you see stored on the side deck is the captains' launch. They used this to take the captain to shore when the ship was anchored off shore. Well that little boat is about the size of our Sandrobber...and this picture only captures about 1/2 the length of the Wisconsin.

We were lucky enough to witness a ceremony while we were touring the battleship. In this small ceremony, this sailor is re-enlisting.

Ok...you are asking yourself why we would bother to share a picture of a buoy with you...since we have passed literally thousands of these. Well...this particular buoy, located at Norfolk, marks Mile 0 of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway. Since we left Marathon, we have been following the AICW a mile at a time, and now it comes to an end as we approach the Chesapeake. Hard to believe that just a few short months ago, when we left Marathon, we were at Mile 1193!

These are 3 large Army ships that were at port across the river from the Naval Base. We kept our camera idle while passing the Naval Base, and didn't snap any pictures of all of the cool ships that we saw from the land side a few days previous.

Here is Jeff (Act lll) describing some of the Yorktown battle action to Sandy atop one of the redoubts at the battlefield. A redoubt is sort of like a raised fortified bunker from which they defended larger battle lines behind and to the sides of these locations.

Panoramic view of the redoubt. The manpower required to dig all of the trenches and bunkers and these redoubts is mind boggling when you see it up close.

We didn't end up with any really cool pictures of the Monitor and much of the Maritime Museum...but here are a couple of shots of some of the classic small boats that they had on display in one small section of the museum.

This one deserves special mention we suppose. It is a sailboat that is 5' wide and 6' long. Back in 1968, some "smart fellow" sailed all the way across the Atlantic Ocean in this thing! At the time it set a record for the smallest vessel ever to make this crossing. This record stood for more than 25 years, which we assume means that someone did it in something even smaller!  There is a fine line between courage and stupidity sometimes...

This classic just looks like it would be fun to drive!

Midway Marina to Top Rack (Chesapeake, VA)

Day #227; Loop Miles to Date = 3,016

We have determined now that we are likely "weather wimps" as regards the temperature. We continue to complain about it only being 60 degrees, and long for the 70's and 80's that we have become accustomed to! We do know though that it won't be long and we will be experiencing hot and humid summer days on the Chesapeake, wishing that the heat would just give us a break...so we must keep our perspective, musn't we?

Top Rack marina is really just a storage facility for smaller boats that happens to have some docks that we can tie up to. We chose this spot because it is very close to the former home of our friends on ACT lll. They have bunches of friends close by, and know the area well. We have already had a blast at a karaoke night at a local Mexican restaurant last Friday, and dinner at a friends house last night (Bill and Ardis). Jeff on ACT lll is a talented musician (guitar and singing) so a bunch of our fun revolves around song and laughs...tons of laughs. Last night, Jeff and Bill entertained us for about an hour and it was terrific!

Later on today we are heading to downtown Portsmouth to drive around and sight see, and then go to a dinner/movie theater in a restored one-screen theater...it should be fun. Then tomorrow, we are taking a tour of the Navy base in Norfolk - we are really looking forward to this outing!! On Wednesday, we plan to venture a whole 10 miles up river and dock at downtown Norfolk for a couple of nights...with a tour of the battleship Wisconsin on the list of things to do.

Enough babble...some pics...

A 1949 wood hulled trawler that was parked near us at Midway Marina. It had been underwater (sunk) just 2 days prior and they were pumping all sorts of "stuff" out of it while we were there. We didn't really want to know what some of it was...

Friendly guy just sitting on the wall near where we were waiting to get into the Great Bridge Lock. This was only about a 1 foot change in elevation, and required us to smash a bunch of boats into a medium sized lock. The bigger challenge this day had been to time 3 bridges and this lock. They all had strict opening schedules, so we had to plan our travel day carefully to make sure that we weren't sitting and waiting for an opening somewhere for an hour.

You can't see it real clearly here, but in the lock already is a barge on the right half of the lock. There were 3 boats in front of us, and our 2 traveling companions behind us. All 6 of us squeezed into the left half of the lock for the short trip up. These are the situations where it is very comforting to be one of the smaller boats entering the lock...if these bigger boats have room, then we have plenty!

This set-up is called a High and Dry. They basically stack boats on shelves in a big warehouse, and then pull them out with a big fork lift whenever anyone wants to use theirs.

Here you can see the stacks of boats. Mostly these facilities are designed for boats that are 30' and less.

And here you can see the big fork truck with a boat being washed before being stored.

And then here we are, just across the concrete apron from the storage facility. They have room for 3 or 4 boats to have power hook-ups...the remainder of the slips are just simply slips for the boats that are transiting in and out of the storage barn.

Of note, a milestone of sorts...just as we exited NC and entered VA (our 8th state thus far) we turned 3,000 miles on our trip odometer. It is really hard for us to believe that we have traveled this far already, as there are times when we feel like we've just started this journey. It is amazing to absorb this fact, and eye opening at how quickly the time and miles have passed. It is a good reminder for us to make sure that we take the time to absorb each experience fully. The positive side of this is that we have gained a bunch of experience and are better at what we do each day...and also we know that this east coast portion of the trip will be experienced 2 more times, so we try not to get too excitable about missing something on this first time through.

We've been seeing numerous eagles on this eastern coast...it's really breathtaking sometimes. Sandy captured this one in flight...good stuff!

Alligator River Marina to Midway Marina (Coinjock, NC)

Day #223; Loop Miles to Date = 2,980

We made the decision to forge ahead and cross the Albemarle Sound today...it was either today or tomorrow, because on Saturday the weather is taking a turn for the worse, and we wanted to have it behind us. And it worked out just fine. We knew we were going to see some heavier seas, but also knew that they would be right on our nose, which our boat handles quite well all things considered. It wasn't an entirely happy ride for our 4-legged crew, but we made the best of it.

We had a total of 35 miles to travel today, of which the first 20 or so were going to be in open water. The heaviest sea condition that we saw was about 4 foot seas...again because we were heading into the wind, we were fine. If they had been on our beam, that would have been a whole different ball game, but they weren't and we plowed through it all just fine. Midway Marina is nothing at all...just a place to tie up on a dock wall along the ICW. The wakes from passing boats have been minimal, and we expect it to stay this way. It's just a place to plop down for the night, as we are off to points further north tomorrow.

The only question that we have been asking ourselves the past few days is...why didn't we stay further south a little longer?! It has been the coolest weather we have seen since October on the Tennessee River...but we really shouldn't complain...highs in the 60's and lows in the 50's. We'll survive.

Pictures really do not do it justice. For about 10 miles we were plowing through 3-4 foot seas head on. The wipers were on constantly, and we were taking spray over the top of the pilot house with regularity. It might sound dramatic, but the novelty wore off quickly enough.

A shot of us after it had calmed down just a bit...even though it doesn't look like it, these are probably about 3 foot seas. The shallowness of the sound causes the water to build up rapidly, even when the wind is only blowing 10-15 mph. (Thanks to California Lady for the action shot.)

RE Mayo to Dowry Creek Marina to Alligator River Marina

Day #222; Loop Miles to Date = 2,944

This one will be really brief. We had a good travel day on Tuesday...some wind and really gray all day, but the wind was out of a good direction for where we were headed. We traversed a corner of the Pamlico Sound, and also up the Pungo River. Both are exposed, and can be nasty in the wrong conditions...for us it was only a little choppy and therefor just fine.

We found Dowry Creek to be a small marina in a really small southern town. Nothing to really do here, but the folks at the marina were great. Laundry was free, and the captains lounge was terrific compared to most. They also had a pool, but in the rain and 60 degrees, there were no takers.

Wednesday found us once again in some wind and rain...more of both today. And again the wind was out of a good direction for our travel. Our biggest concern was the open part of the Alligator River...more like a lake than a river. We had 3+ foot waves on our bow, and took spray over the bow all day. But this boat loves these conditions and performs admirably for its size. The only really uncomfortable part of the day was holding our position outside of the marina waiting for our turn to enter the basin. We were in 4 foot seas, and rocking around quite a bit for about 15 minutes. Alligator River Marina is an interesting little spot. It has a small captains lounge, good laundry facilities, and dockage for a total of about 20 or 25 boats. The interesting part is that it is a Shell Station/Café/Marina...think of it like a truck stop that has dockage and you sort of get the picture.

But, we're all settled in for tonight...the biggest decision we have now is all about the weather. We need to cross the Albemarle Sound, which can be a beast in the wrong wind condition. We want to cross it either tomorrow or Friday...deliberations will be made this afternoon to decide the best course of action. Either way, we are probably in for a bumpy couple of hours...more fun to be had!

About the only picture of interest from our visit to Bellhaven, NC (Dowry Creek). This 4' piece of "Art" was outside the local eatery Fish Hooks.

Captain Sandy hard at work...first mate Kikie doing her part.

Southport to Moorehead City Yacht Basin to RE Mayo Seafood

Day # 220; Loop Miles to Date = 2,870

Southport to Moorehead City was a LONG day. It was 64 miles, and we were into the current or in areas where we had to watch our wake much of the day…so it took us 7 hours. For the pups (and for us) this is about an hour more than we enjoy frankly. We were glad actually that we had decided to stay for 2 days, because we just didn’t feel like moving again when we got up on Sunday morning. The marina was fine for us…a whole bunch of big sport fishing boats docked here, and from what we understand there were more on the way. There was evidently a huge marlin tournament starting in early June, and the boats start arriving early and snagging the dock space.

 

Moorehead City to RE Mayo on the other hand was a very pleasant day. The weather was gorgeous, the current a bother for a while but more palatable, and the ride smooth and enjoyable. It was a 48 mile day, but we managed it in only about 5 ½ hours…much more to our liking. And we found RE Mayo to be exactly what we were expecting. It is a working fishing dock, where the large boats come in to unload their catch. Just as we arrived, they were unloading a boat that had brought in some flounder. We were able to watch the entire process…from unloading to sorting to packing in ice to loading on trucks. It was great! The docks are a bit beat up, but that’s fine. The price is perfect (only $0.40 per foot) and we were all able to buy some flounder and shrimp at great prices. For example…Rob bought a T-shirt and flounder for dinner and the bill was a total of about $20. Can’t beat that! and we bought a bunch more for the freezer.

We’re here just for the night…there are no marina-like facilities…kind of like a glorified anchorage where we can simply step off the boat to walk the pups. We are off in the morning to cross the Pamlico Sound. This can be an awkward crossing, but we have 2 things going for us – the weather looks suitable and the route we are taking only bites off about 10 miles of open water. So, we are hoping that it will be comfortable and relatively uneventful.

(We don’t have any real internet service here at RE Mayo, so this entry is being penned on Monday night, but it will likely not post until Tuesday or Wednesday sometime.)

Now for some pics…

Another house that's easy to spot from the ICW.

OK...this house had an 8' tall giraffe by the water, and...

A metallic sculpture of what we decided was Queen Neptunis holding a rainbow flag.

 

Sandy snapped some great shots of Osprey in their nests...a future blog might have a photo shopped version of these for better viewing...

How about having your own lighthouse next to your house on a private island? In pink of course.

 

We drove past Camp Lejune where the marines train, but fortunately there wasn't any live fire in the area.

Only a couple of carcasses of what they use for target practice.

At Moorehead City Yacht Basin, there were scads of large sport fishing boats...this is only a sampling.

We think that this guy was raking for oysters.

At RE Mayo...this was the fishing boat that pulled up with a load of flounder while we were there.

 

Sandrobber tucked away on their dock for the night.



And for public restrooms they had these...look familiar to any of you?

Not sure why the women got a 2-holer...guess we know who runs the show at RE Mayo now!

 

Osprey Marina to Free Dock at Southport, NC

Day #217; Loop Miles to Date = 2,718

Gonna try to make this one brief...we're headed out in an hour or so...

Time at Osprey was good...very isolated where we were, which made logistics a challenge, but it was peaceful and quiet. Sandy drove back to Atlanta with Lola for a few days for some tests, and arrived back at the boat late on Tuesday...only to turn around and have to leave for Southport bright and early the next morning. She had a very long couple of days!

We traveled with Act III and California Lady...Corkscrew is taking a week to head home for a visit, so we'll see them down the road when they can catch up (hopefully soon!). We only had a couple of potential trouble spots to be on the alert for, and found our way to some free docks in Southport. Robert Creech, the local harbor host greeted us and helped us into our slips. The docks are a bit rough, and directly in front of a beach restaurant, but hey...they're free.

Southport is a nice small southern beach town of sorts. Lots of history here...UBoats in WWII off the coast, Cape Fear Inlet, home base for the Pilot Boats who assist large ships up the channel to Wilmington, NC, and many TV shows and movies have used Southport as a shooting location. We might return here on our way back south...but will likely opt for the Marina that is nearby. We toured the town on foot on Thursday...saw some history, ate at a good local eatery (Loco Joes) found a great ice cream shop, and spent some time wandering around a cemetery with some history. (We even found a Newton family plot that had 25 or 30 headstones dating from the early 1800's to the 1980's.)

And now we're headed out to points north...stay tuned...we'll fill you in on where we end up...

Sometimes the chart plotter needs to be over ruled by what you see with your eyes on the waterway. This view would have you believing that we traveled out of the water and crawled over land for a bit. We were however right in the middle of the channel. It's just a weird glitch that GPS throws at you from time to time...a reminder that common sense needs to override the electronics sometimes.

As we crossed into NC (our 7th state) there is a golf course that transports golfers from one side of the ICW to the other with a tram system...makes you think you are at a ski resort...

The occasional derelict fishing boat on the ICW...

Sandy spotted this mermaid as lawn ornamentation that someone had...

And it's for sale if anyone is interested.

Pretty easy to give someone directions to your house on the ICW in this case.

Pilots tower for the Wilmington and Cape Fear Pilots Association. For TV fans, this was used as the Radio Station tower in the TV series "The Dome". Other parts of town (including the cemetery we visited) were also used for set locations. In the "old" days, the pilots would sit in this tower and look for incoming ships, and then dispatch pilots to guide the ships up the channel as they arrived.

Here's the ladder we had to climb to get off our dock. Imagine this with 2 pups...with the tide an extra 2' lower than the picture shows. Exciting times!

Beautiful old oak tree on the waterfront in Southport.