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.