Norfolk & the AICW Southbound

In downtown Norfolk, go west down the street
until you run into a big grey battleship
(part of the Nauticus museum)

We stayed in Norfolk for 3 days, which was one day longer than we wanted.  The winds from yet ANOTHER cold front kicked up to 25 mph gusting to 30 and there were continuous whitecaps on the waves in the harbor.  At our marina, we were tied at a fixed concrete dock, and the 3’ tides coupled with the winds, did some minor damage to the side of the boat.  Oh well, something else to fix.



Our tourist day in Norfolk was spent visiting the Douglas MacArthur museum & memorial, and the Nauticus.  Your history lesson for today, children, is that MacArthur served in WWI as a general, and had already made a name for himself by the time he became a 5-star General during WWII.  When he was young, he lived in the Philippines when his father (also an Army General) was stationed there, and MacArthur was considered an expert on the people & politics of the Philippines.



USS Jesse L. Brown, my home away from home
in 1974.  I flew a helicopter from the tiny back deck
as it pitched and rolled.

At the Nauticus, we toured two museums, and saw mostly the typical marine/Navy stuff.  My big surprise at one of the museums was the selection of free postcards of Navy ships at the front desk, one of which had the picture of good ol’ DE 1089 – the ship that I was on in 1974!  The ship had been decommissioned 10-15 years ago, so how they still had a postcard of it, I’ll never know.

Norfolk has mermaids throughout the city.  I'm taking
the good-looking one home with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 



This mermaid has spent too much
time at sea!

 

  

One other day, we took the harbor ferry over to Portsmouth to see more museums, and to go to the Commodore Theater.  This theater, which was recommended to us by boater friends from New Orleans, shows first run movies inside a restored art deco building, in addition to serving a lunch or dinner prior to the show.  Rather unique.

 

The long parade of boats heading south down the ICW

Along the ICW, as the bridge finally opens, out comes
a tug & barge.  Makes things interesting when the
canal is already too narrow.

We were finally able to depart Norfolk on October 24, when the winds “died down” to only 15-20 mph.  We were entering the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway again, where winds are not as important as in open waters.  Just south of Norfolk are an “obstacle course” of bridges and locks, most with scheduled openings.  With the large number of southbound boats having been held up by bad weather, we now had a virtual caravan of boats going through each bridge opening.  At times, we were number 10 in the long line of southbound boats.  It seemed like organized mayhem as we all “marked time” waiting for the next bridge to open.

We tried to avoid the crowds by bypassing the common marinas, and anchoring in coves on the way south.  However, even the coves had 3 other boats in them.  I’m amazed at how many boats make the trek north and south each year. 

Some parts of the ICW are deserted & boring

The winds were a constant 15-20 out of the northwest for about 3 days.  It caught us on the starboard beam most of the way, and because our boat has so much canvas enclosures, the wind made us heel over to port just like a sailboat.  I think that our boat will have a permanent heel because of all the wind.  And all the sea spray made the decks crusty with salt.  The first thing we did when we got to a marina was to give the boat a fresh water washdown.

 

 

 

 

Our anchorages for the nights were peaceful & pretty

 

The spacious dining salon aboard Lagniappe

We made Morehead City three days after leaving Norfolk and put in to a marina.  Just an hour later, our friends Greg & LizAnn aboard “Lagniappe” pulled in the marina right across from us.  These are our Power Squadron friend from New Orleans, whom we have been chasing south ever since the Potomac River.  We consider ourselves the Atlantic Fleet of the New Orleans Power Squadron.  We were able to break bread together & tell lots of lies – er, I mean sea stories.  You should have heard all the different ways other boaters tried to say “Lagniappe” on the VHF radio!

We spent two nights in Morehead City to do some Christmas shopping and to clean up the boat.  We were then ready for the final jaunt down the ICW to our marina for the winter.

“Sailors & Dogs, keep off the grass”

That’s what the yard signs said the first time I was in Norfolk, way back in 1968 (you know, back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth!).  But we came back anyway, arriving yesterday after a 4-day trip from the Potomac River.

I was in Norfolk in the summer of 1968 for 3 weeks as part of my summer training with the Navy ROTC college program.  I spent 3 weeks at Little Creek VA with the US Marines and Navy Seals.  What I really learned is that you want all these guys on YOUR side during a war!  Anyhow, it was serendipity that the Navy destroyer which my older brother was on, got back to Norfolk after a 6-month Med cruise during those 3 weeks, and we were able to meet up in Norfolk.  All I remember about Granby Street is being the place where all the sailors got caught up on all their drinking.  And where all the yard signs were.

Our last evening at Colonial Beach, the swans
came over for dinne

We left Colonial Beach on the Potomac River under beautiful calm conditions & had a good trip the 40-some miles to the mouth of the river.  As we turned south around Smith Point, the wind picked up to 20 mph & the seas increased to 2’ trying to go to 3’, right on our bow.  The weather forecast for the next couple days showed even more increasing winds & waves, so we ran a couple extra hours that first day to reduce the trip the next day.

Departing the anchorage at zero-dark-thirty & 47 degrees!

The next day gave us the same 20 mph winds with 2-3’ seas, which made for an uncomfortable ride (I thought this was “pleasure” boating, not “walking like a drunken sailor”).  We made lots of sea spray as we hit the waves & the weather decks were crusty with salt.  We hit a couple waves when the sea spray came all the way up into the open helm window.  We stayed at our protected anchorage for 2 nights while the cold front came through & made winds 25 mph gusting to 30, with 3-4’ seas out on the Bay. 

Entering Hampton Roads, different size ships going
in all different directions.

I’ve heard people ask, “How long in the fall can you go boating on the Chesapeake?”  I’ve found the answer is “Until the cold fronts start coming every 3 to 4 days, and the seas turn snotty.”  And the butter gets too hard.

Lots of traffic past our marina



We entered Hampton Roads (where the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia fought an ironclad battle), where vessel traffic was surprisingly heavy.  We passed 5 Navy destroyers heading outbound, plus commercial ships, tows with barges, and lots of smaller boats.  We knew that Greg & LizAnn, fellow boaters aboard “Lagniappe” from New Orleans, were in the area, and we actually talked to them on the VHF radio, but they were ahead of us & continuing south past Norfolk.

 

Big grey boats everywhere!


 

We made Waterside Marina where we found some easy dockside space to tie to in these 15 mph winds.  We’re at Mile Mark 0.0 (the official end of the Chesapeake Bay and the beginning of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway).  We’re surrounded by grey Navy ships.  There must be more grey paint sold in this town than in any other place in the world!  After a couple days acting like tourists, we’ll continue our southbound journey.





Harbor cruise boat which ties at our marina


 

 

Looking through the 3-masted schooner, the typical
clouds of a high pressure system, just prior to the
next low pressure, just prior to the next high pressure

The Butter is Getting Hard

Our special waitress with her chief cook

We spent our 3 weeks ashore & now we’re getting antsy to get back on the water.  We took care of personal matters in Chattanooga and in New Orleans, which all turned out well.  The Executive Summary:

We owe another huge debt of gratitude to our very good friends in Chattanooga, John & Susan.  Their hospitality in sharing their home with us was definitely “above and beyond”.  They recently enjoyed their own cruise, taking their boat down the TN River and the TennTom to Mobile AL.

We enjoyed our two short visits to New Orleans, and our visits to our son & his family.  We thoroughly spoiled our granddaughter before returning her to her parents as we were leaving town.

Back in TN, we got to visit our special boating buddies, Leigh and Clint, for a couple days.  We find that they may be planning to take their big new yacht all the way south to Key West.  Yes, we’re jealous.

With our niece's two sons in front of Monticello.
I want my picture on the back of all the nickels!

When we initially left Colonial Beach, we noted that our southbound trek took us right through Charlottesville VA, so we decided to act like tourists and stop to visit Jefferson’s Monticello, as well as James Monroe’s Ashlawn-Highland (located adjacent to Monticello).  For your history trivia for today, you should know that Jefferson was the mentor for both James Madison (4^th President) and James Monroe (5^th President).  Since each of the 3 served 8 years as President, Jefferson’s Republican policies and beliefs became infused in the new country’s government and Congress.

Shenandoah Mountains, about 3300' MSL.  We'll
stay at Mean Sea Level for the next month.

As we finally drove back to our boat on the Potomac River, we saw that the tree leaves had started to change to their fall colors.  We took a small detour from the interstate highway to drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Shenandoah Mountains.  The mountains all in color were impressive, especially since we’ll be right at sea level for the next couple weeks.

I heard several years ago another boater describe how he determines when to head north for the spring, or to head south for the winter.  He puts a stick of butter on a dish on his boat.  If the butter gets too soft, he heads north.  If the butter gets too hard, he heads south.  Our butter is getting too hard.