Variety Day

We had a good dinner and pleasant night at Coinjock.  Martha had a seafood platter and I had the famous prime rib. There was plenty left over for another meal. Both times that we have stayed here, barges and tugs passed during the night. This is one of the few areas along the entire ICW that you see so much commercial traffic. It is strange, but very cool, to see these large vessels pass within a few yards of your boat.

We got an early start this morning and headed for the Currituck Sound. When we went through the Sound in October, it was pretty rough and there were many boats making the crossing. Today, the traffic was light and the winds were coming from the south, making it a much better ride. There are many wide open and swampy areas, but a number of homes as well. We passed the tug Island Trader with a barge full of scrap iron. We passed her at nearly the same point on the Sound in October. A little further north and we started seeing more barges along the waterfront.

We had to pass through a series of three bridges and one lock before getting into the Norfolk area. They are all timed for boats going about 5.5 or 6 knots, opening on the hour or half hour. We had to wait about 5 minutes for the first bridge, the second bridge is under repair, so not wait there. The last bridge, the Great Bridge Bridge opened on time and led us right into the Great Bridge Lock. We were one of two boats going through the lock. Martha enjoyed making friends with the goose that was standing along the lock wall. The goose seemed to be very interested in the activity.

Once through the lock, we entered the very commercial part of the Norfolk area. It went on for miles and we saw every manner of water vessel, from commercial to military. We were delayed for over 30 minutes when the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge No. 7 closed just as we approached. One train passed, but the bridge didn’t open We used the radio and phone to try and find out what was going on, but no one answered. A second train passed a little later and the bridge opened shortly after. We made our way slowly through the Norfolk harbor and across to Hampton, our stop for tonight.

The marina is located across the water from Hampton University. They have a bell tower with clock that chimes every hour. We prepared for the predicted bad weather and settled in to ride it out. The rain came down pretty heavy and winds buffeted us around for a few hours. Fortunately, we had already planned to enjoy our leftovers from last night for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow we head for Solomons, MD and the last night of our long journey. The weather is supposed to be ok tomorrow, so hopefully we will have good conditions to cruise up the Bay.