Long Day, But A Lot to See

We departed Cape Charles at 7:00am this morning as we knew it would be a long day. The sky was blue, the winds were light, the Bay was calm and it wasn't too cold. We passed the concrete plant that is making all of the material for the expansion of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. They worked all through the night. We know this because we heard the machinery and tractors at all hours. It is obviously a huge job and they must do a lot of work at night to avoid effecting traffic on the bridge. Martha took a bunch of pictures as we departed Cape Charles harbor. I liked all of the pelicans perched on the pilings and standing guard at the end of the channel.

It was an uneventful crossing as we headed across the Bay to Norfolk. Once we passed the Thimble Shoals Lighthouse got to the entrance of the Elizabeth River and Hampton Roads, we had all sorts of traffic. Barges, warships and other assorted vessels were all around us. The Navy ship didn't catch up to us as it turned away to dock once at the Navy Base.

Norfolk is a great place to see every type of vessel there is, both commercial and military. They go on for miles and the early morning sun made for some great shots.

Once through the industrial area, we finally reached the Great Bridge Lock. It only goes up and down two feet and is mostly for water control rather than depth. We had to wait about 40 minutes for the lock with three other boats. After we entered the lock a number of tugs, dredges and other recreational boats lined up for the next transit. Our timing was good as we could avoid a real traffic jam behind us.