Sitting in Norfolk, day 5...

Cory does a good job of demonstrating why we are stuck in port - it's too windy!

The water taxi that brought us from Norfolk to Portsmouth - across the river. It costs $1.00 per person each way. Cory was free.

A typical side street in Portsmouth - I like this city but Linda prefers Charleston.

This boat arrived at 9:00am with hovering helicopters, the pilot boat, and several tug boats. It is the Spanish gov't tall ship and the third largest in the world - 113 meters. Our slip is about 100 feet away (33 meters).

This swimming pool is at the marina that we are going to move to on Saturday. I think it is really neat that the pool is filled with Mountain Dew!

This boat blew its engine while at our marina dock. It was towed from the marina to make room for the tall ship. The boat is 92 feet long. It's comforting to me to know that TowBoat US is close by. This ship dumped a rather large amount of diesel fuel into the water in the marina. We were unable to flush the head for 24 hours because we didn't want to suck that stuff into the holding tank.

This proves we are really here.


We remain stuck in Norfolk, VA until, latest plan, Sunday morning. The waves on the Chesapeake are reported to be 4-6 ft. because of a storm front just off the coast. 5 miles up the river where we are, everything is pretty calm. We are moving tomorrow across the river to gas up and pumpout. Today, like yesterday, was sightseeing and minor chores. We hope to get moving soon. Just a little bit of trivia that we learned today - no visiting military ship is ever met at the pier upon arrival until it has completely docked and is secure in its berth. We were told that is because so many things can go wrong during docking that the host country does not want to embarass the Captain. I, on the other hand, need a greeting committee to catch the ropes and pull me to the dock. Tomorrow the tall ship is open to the public and we will be taking a look inside. Ken

I am reading a great book, "Memory Keeper's Daughter", that I picked up in a book swap at a marina along the way. Today is overcast, but we had the excitement of seeing the tall ship dock. There was a small band playing on board- playing what I guess to be the Spanish equivalent of John Philip Sousa. Everyone is "piped"onto the boat (the "two-whee" whistle you think of with old military boats). We have seen limos with "important" people get onto the boat, with "common" people like us boaters walking close by. It's a huge boat. None of the photos show the full length because we can't fit it all in the photo!! Love to all- Linda

Exploring Norfolk, VA

Look at the lovely mer"maid" I found at the Maritime Museum! I think this photo just about sums it all up!!!!

We stumbled upon this veterans memorial in the park. Bronze "pages" look like they've been scattered in the wind- each one had a letter from a veteran that had been sent from the front lines. It was very well done.

OK- no jokes about "carp-to-carp walleting"!!!!

Ken likes to use his Lasik-ed vision (when he opens his eyes) at the helm!!!

I like Neptune- there's something about a man with a tail & scales!

I also like Einstein! (Maybe we've been on the boat too long when we start playing with cardboard statues!)

Ken & Linda on the aft deck of the "Wisonsin" battleship. You can tell how windy it is by the flag!!!



Happy Birthday to my brother, Paul! We are stuck in Norfolk, VA due to high winds. But it has been sunny, we’re in a nice marina, and there’s lots to do in a city! Yesterday we walked in the park and went to “Nauticus”- the National Maritime Museum. It included a tour of the battleship “Wisconsin”, a movie about earthquakes, exhibits on navigation, and a small shark exhibit. Friday a tall ship from Spain is arriving at our marina! It’s the 3rd largest tall ship in the world. I hope THEY”RE enjoying the wind!

We arrived safely in Norfolk, VA and now it looks like we are going to stay here until Saturday morning when the winds and the seas are supposed to die down. Right now there are small craft advisories in effect for the Chesapeake Bay until Thursday. Then the winds are supposed to lower from 20-25 to 10-15mph. We then have to wait another day for the seas to lower from 3 feet to 1-2 feet. The marina we are at is right in the heart of the “re-vitalized” harbor area - very nice. There are over 30 restaurants within walking distance but no grocery store, no gas, and no pumpout. We are going to leave this marina Friday afternoon and go across the Elizabeth River to a different marina so we can get gas and pumpout before leaving Saturday morning for our trip up the Chesapeake. We have spent the morning rearranging and storing things below and Linda put more ’Rain-X’ on the windshield and cleaned the plastic windows in preparation of running into “scattered showers” on Saturday. We also ate at ’Hooters’ the day before yesterday. Linda was hiding her face hoping that she wouldn’t see anyone she knew. We ate there because they had an outdoor patio that would accommodate Cory. Cory likes Hooters a lot! Today more exploring. Ken

Welcome to Virginia...

We left Coinjock Marina this morning at 8:50am, for us, a very early start. When we got up at 7:30am all the boats on the 1100 ft. dock, with the exception of 3, had already left for the day. Our first task was to cross the Currituck Sound, which turned out to be particularly nervewracking. It was the shallowest large piece of water that we have been in to date. In the channel was a comfortable 7-12 feet depth, but 10 ft. out of the channel and you would be aground. A boat from the marina that left before we got up was calling BoatUS Tow and reporting that he was aground. We passed within 40 ft. of "Fiji" who was hard aground. We then entered the Albemarle/Chesapeake Canal and then the sourthern branch of the Elizabeth River, which leads into Norfolk, VA. This 40 miles is home to numerous bridges and 1 lock. Consequently, if you time one bridge right, the next one you will have to sit at until it opens. We timed most of the bridges right but badly mistimed the lock and arrived 45 minutes early. Nothing to do but drift in place until the lock opens. After the lock we entered into the most congested industrial megamess that we have ever seen. Tugboats, naval boats, barges, etc. everywhere and still, the bridges. We wound our way through 5 miles of this and tied up at Waterside Marina at mile marker '0' on the ICW. We now have to change chart books. We are out of the ICW and I have to say, I miss it already. It was shallow and narrow but at least it was beautiful and you got to know the other boaters traveling with you. We are now on the very large, inpersonable, deep (15-25 ft), prone to roughness, Chesapeake Bay. We may be staying in Norfolk for a couple of days as a front comes through. The winds are expected to increase to 20 mph and the seas to increase to 3 ft. tomorrow and Wednesday. We could travel in that but it wouldn't be comfortable. We're still trying to decide what to do. Ken

Linda here- Currituck Sound was shallow, as Ken said, but very pretty. I'm so glad I don't live near this heavily-industrialized area that we had to go thru- but I'm sure all the people we saw working do something that affects all of our lives in some way! It seemed like BIG transporting of STUFF-but we really couldn't see what the stuff was!

I loaded the following pictures so that chronologically they are backward. For the pictures and comments to make sense you should go to the last picture and then scroll upward to the first.Ken



This is outside "Nauticus" Maritime Museum down the street from us- there are carp in the pool beneath this mermaid.

This is the battleship "Wisconsin" just down the street from us. It draws 37 feet!!

Ken poses with the"Lonesome Sailor" monument to all past present and future navy personnel. We have no idea what Cory is a monument to!

These mermaids are all over the downtown area- like the decorated cows in West Hartford center, or the bears in Berlin, Germany. It's a pretty neat area with a huge park for Cory to run!

These are 'escort carriers,' the smallest of the aircraft carriers. We just learned that at the Nauticus Maritime Museum. The Navy didn't seem to have a problem with us taking pictures but on the radio we repeatedly heard, "This is United States Navy Warship 75 - the boat at marker 42 state your intentions and destination!" It was very unnerving. We will be passing by that area on the next leg of our journey. If they call me, I'm going to have Linda tell them I'm not home!

How would you like that job? The bridge tender's office is in the building that goes up and down with the bridge. We could see the guy in there.

We ducked under this lift bridge but, if we were bigger, that little house would go way up in the air - just like the picture above this one. Notice the lovely scenery in the background.

This tug was a pain in our rear for a couple of miles. We passed and repassed each other several times. He obviously doesn't know who we are!

Welcome to Norfolk, VA. A real shock after a month of the ICW and beautiful sights.

After the lock the river continued for a short period in a manner very similar to this. On the ICW in this location the green marker is on the right. A small white marker ahead on the left indicates "danger- shoaling." The red marker on the right is for a private opening off the channel.

Entering the last lock of the ICW. The left side is rubber bumpered, the right side is cement. Once in and holding on, on the left side, we dropped a total of 8.4 inches! Then onward to Norfolk, VA!

This is the last bridge that we had to stop for. It is opened at the same time that the lock on the other side opens. It only opens on the hour and we were making such good time that we arrived at 11:12am. Needless to say, we idled and talked with the other boaters for the next 50 minutes.

We caught up to the sportfisherman at one of several low bridges that only opened on the 1/2 hour. His timing was pretty good in this area, so the waits were short.

After the bridge the canal opened up again. The depth is about 10-15 ft. and we were cruising faster than normal, at about 32mph, because we wanted to stick with the large sportfisherman ahead of us who seemed to know the way.

We were making great time until this 4' high bridge brought us all to a halt.

The Albemarle/Chesapeake Canal was a nice waterway. We saw several bald eagles but no pelicans. This is day 3 without seeing any dolphins :(

As we enter the Currituck Sound we see, and hear on the radio, the boat "Fiji", hard aground (that's him on the right). Why he wandered out of the channel is unknown but the penalty was immediate.

What happens inCoinjock...stays in Coinjock

We left Dowry Creek Marina at 8:45am Saturday morning for an 82 mile cruise to Coinjock, NC. We left early because of predicted storms in the late afternoon and the ominous skies when we awoke. We also were apprehensive about crossing Albemarle Sound. Although we only had to bisect it, from south to north, it still is an impressive piece of shallow water. But our worrying was unnecessary. We cruised the entire 82 miles with ease. Arriving in Coinjock at 1230pm. We fueled and got settled in, waiting for the storm to hit later. We then had a great view as all the other boats arrived toward evening. The rain held off until about 5:30pm but when it came it was full of thunder and lightning. We are now at ICW mile marker 49.5 and we have started to study the Chesapeake Bay chart book. We are planning on taking the western route up the bay. As I write this, Sunday 2:50p, Linda is entering waypoints for the Bay in her GPS. Tomorrow - Virginia! Ken




Leaving Dowry Creek Marina Saturday morning at 8:45am. The clouds were with us all day.

After leaving Dowry Creek Marina we traveled about 5 miles on the wide Pungo River and then entered the Pungo River to Alligator River Canal - this canal continues likes this, perfectly straight, for 18 miles. No worries, no navigation problems - just stay in the middle. I like it like that! We also like that it was 12' deep!

After leaving the canal we entered the Alligator River and then Albemarle Sound. The Sound looked very similar to Long Island Sound. Instead of rhythmic waves, there is chop. We soared across it in about 45 minutes at 26 mph. After leaving the sound we entered the North River - the picture above is typical of the North River - winding, wide, and the land is flat as far as you can see.

Coinjock Marina - a must stopping place according to everyone. We are enjoying it immensely. A good restaurant (home of the 32-oz prime rib), wi-fi, cable TV, and nice little mart. It is just one long dock that fills up at night. We arrived before all the sailboats and they put us right behind the sailboat in the picture. This picture is was taken as we approached the gas dock area.

We met Charlie and Terry, from the boat Voyager, for dinner. This tanker went by as we ate. You really can't get a feeling for the size - it was at least 3X longer that what you see and almost as wide as the canal we are in. The rain has started and is bringing with it high winds from the north. When the rain started it was 84 degrees - this morning it was 64. We are staying in Coinjock until Monday to avoid the wind and stirred up Currituck Sound.

As usual, Cory was making friends. This is 'Zipper' , an 11-week old miniature Schnauzer.

Charlie ordered the famous 32-oz. prime rib and we had to get a picture of it. Needless to say, it will be several meals aboard the Voyager. Ken & I had seafood!

The pictures below are from our trip between Morehead City and Belhaven, NC. Below the pictures is our explanation of the trip. It is now Sunday - so these pictures represent Thursday and Friday's trips. We will update with more pictures and our trip to Coinjock later tonight.
It's so great when we can get on the internet!!!

Arriving at Dowry Creek Marina, mile 132 ICW, in Belhaven, NC. We exit off the Pungo River into this entry channel.

Cory immediately meets and makes friends with Cherie. They are inseperatable - mostly on Cory's part.

We take the courtesy car for a ride to town to restock. The area is described as "the old North Carolina, the way it used to be." We see many houses abandoned and falling down, houses with storm damage, and not much else. The courtesy car was an old Buick- you had to reach out the window to the outside door handle to get out of the car Linda was laughing so hard she could hardly open the door to get out!

The land is entirely flat here - farms are growing soybeans and seem to be the only thriving businesses.

Finally we're on a dock that doesn't make us look tiny. The floating docks are gone now because, according to marina owner, there are no more tidal ranges on the ICW - only water heights affected by the winds.

A look from our boat at the rest of the marina. Unfortunately, this marina has fallen on hard times because of the death of the husband. The wife is trying to keep it going until the boaters all make it north for the summer. It's very tragic, but a beautiful tranquil spot.

This is for Alison. Apparently we are staying right in the town where her boat is made. We saw many of the new models of Privateer boat - but they are all smaller than hers.

They're very proud here that their restaurant is "sanitary."

This 21 ft. C-Ranger tug was in the parking lot of the "Sanitary Restaurant" - Linda really liked it. Ken- not so much.

A picture showing how close we are to the banks - we are traveling in the middle of this canal. The edges are eaten away and stumps occasionally stick out of the water. You have to keep a sharp eye out for floating debris. Note the Carolina pine trees. They're EVERYWHERE!

We wanted to show the color of the water - it looks like tea. The natives say it is from the tannen in the trees being washed into the rivers. I believe them but Linda's not so sure.

A little fishing village. Linda liked the shrimp boats.

A sample of the conditions when we crossed Pamlico Sound - hot, hazy, and humid is a perfect boating day. The Sound could not have been calmer. It looked like this in all directions. The Sound has an easy channel to follow - out of the channel it is very shallow.

This is why Linda is not so convinced on the "tannin theory" of water coloration. These drainage pipes are visible all along the waterway. NC must know what they're doing with drainage with all the hurricanes they get, but these pipes make me want to call the EPA!

After we left Morehead City we entered this canal as we headed toward Belhaven. We got in the middle of a "Grady Whitefest" - it was the most traffic that we have seen on the ICW since we left Florida. We were very grateful when these boats all turned off en masse and we continued on.

Friday, May 11- Last night in Morehead City we ate at the “Sanitary Fish Market & Restaurant! It was recommended by several people, and with a name like that, you‘ve GOT to go there. It was OK. Today was a beautiful, calm, sunny day. There was LOTS of boat traffic for the first part of our trip today- several Grady Whites surrounded us and were not very courteous with their wakes in the no wake zones. We saw no dolphins today, so maybe we are now too far North for them. The scenery is ever-changing when you boat 80 miles in a day, and the Pamlico Sound was wide, smooth, and beautiful! It’s only about 19 feet deep and it’s HUGE! North Carolina has lots of pine trees, and I understand that the tannin they emit turns the water coffee-colored. Pretty interesting to look at, but I wonder if you swim in it, does it tint your bathing suit?!? We arrived at Dowry’s Creek Marina, a QUIET, rural place. Hardly anyone is here. We did meet a man from Wethersfield, CT with his Maltese “Cherie”. Cory really likes her! We took the courtesy car into “town”-let’s just say Belhaven is not scenic and not quaint. It’s hot & very humid- Alison would have melted long ago! Tonight we’ll go to bed early for tomorrow is Albemarle Sound- and it’s even bigger than Pamlico!! Love to all- Linda
Today we spent more time with the boat on plane than any other traveling day. We traveled 80 miles in a little over 4 hours. The ICW boats increased in number today but we think it was a Grady White boat-a-thon, or something like that. We passed many sailboats, all headed north. We have now officially traveled over 1000 miles since the beginning of the trip. We are at mile marker 131 and tomorrow we expect to be at marker ‘50’ in Coinjock, NC. We may end up there for a couple of days because the wind is predicted to pick up on Sunday. Today was, and is, hot and humid. It is 9:30pm and the temperature is 74 degrees, the wind is calm, and the water surface is likewise. Pamlico Sound was as flat as a mirror because we hit it early in the day. We’re going to try and do the same with Albemarle Sound. We have to go thru an 18 mile long narrow canal before we reach the Alligator River which will bring us to Albemarle Sound. It may be hard to pass sailboats in the canal, so we may arrive in the sound later in the day. The boat seems to be running fine and currently has 90 hours on the engine. More than I normally put on in a typical summer. Well, the water is gently lapping at the boat and is lulling me to sleep - see you all soon. Ken

Saturday - We left Dowry Creek Marina at 8:45am for the 82 mile ride to Coinjock, NC. The ride started with the 18-mile Pungo River to Alligator River canal. This canal is about 100 yards wide with the channel right in the middle. The depth was a constant 12 feet deep. On both banks you could see stumps that had fallen into the canal. We saw no debris floating and had no trouble. We only came off of plane to pass some sailboats. After the canal we were in the Alligator River for about 25 miles. This is the size of Lake George, about 5-7 miles wide and 25miles long. Out of the wide (several hundred yards) channel the depth is 3 feet. There is very little tidal change. The Alligator River leads to Albemarle Sound, the largest body of water we have encountered to date. We were traveling early to miss the afternoon winds and to beat a thunderstorm that dogged us all day. The Sound was relatively calm with a 1 foot chop. We cruised at speed across the sound for a total of 15 miles and then entered the North River and into the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal to the Coinjock Marina - home of the 32-oz Prime Rib Dinner! We ate dinner with Charlie and Terry, owners of Voyager, a 42-ft. Jenneau sailboat. We met them the night before at Dowry Creek Marina and talked with them over the VHF during the day to set the plans for dinner. They are enroute to Wethersfield and, after today, will be headed outside to the Atlantic for the rest of the trip to CT. They gave us a lot of excellent information on the upcoming route that we are taking. This is their 3rd roundtrip of the ICW, so they have a wealth of knowledge. While we were eating dinner a thunderstorm passed by and it rained most of the night. We went to bed hot (84 degrees in the boat) and woke up Sunday morning with the wind at 20 mph and the temperature, inside the boat, at 64 degrees. We will be staying put in Coinjock until Monday morning. The winds are predicted to increase from 20mph to 30mph during the day. Although our next stretch is short, 50 miles, we need to navigate through 6 bridges and a lock that need to be timed. A 30 mph wind is just too much. So here we are in Coinjock, NC. Ken
Linda here- Happy Mother’s Day! The marina owner’s at Dowry Creek told us from Morehead City -North- there are no more tidal ranges to worry about. The only change is due to wind -sometimes 2-3 feet. This is why we no longer have floating docks at these recent marinas. Cory has met several dogs here at Coinjock- my favorites are a reddish brown miniature poodle “Dickens”, and a miniature dachshund named “Rudder”. Today while waiting out the Small Craft Advisory, I plan to clean the boat and read and take a walk. More later- as soon as we can find wi-fi that works! Love to all, Linda