Traveling along
13 June 2008 | Norfolk, VA
Mike
June 10th... Deep Creek to Norfolk
Happy Birthday Kristie!
Jim and I topped off our water tanks and were listening to the radio when we heard that Bridge #7 in Norfolk was not repaired. Our plan was to stay in Deep Creek until we were sure that it was fixed because there is no place to stop once you hit the Elizabeth River in Norfolk .... and there are big ships everywhere.
The first locking was scheduled for 8:30 and we met George when he arrived to tell him that we didn't want to leave if we were going to be stuck at Bridge#7 with no place to tie up or anchor. He got on the phone and after a brief conversation told us to get our boats untied while he readied the lock. By 8:30 we were out of the lock and on our way...� hour before the scheduled opening. George had found out that Bridge #7 was going to opened at 9 for traffic and then closed for an unknown length of time for repairs. He thought that we could make it if he got us through his lock a little early. We love the Dismal Swamp lock guys!
We were at Bridge #7 at 9:00 am but nothing happened until after 10:00 when it opened. Traffic was stacked up on both sides of the bridge and the bridge tender said that north bound boats should proceed. We got in line with about 10 pleasure craft of varying sizes and started forward. As we approached the bridge with three boats behind us, we found an oncoming barge that was taking up all the available space. Since playing chicken was out of the question, we veered off and waited for a string of 4 very large barges to pass through southbound before continuing.
In a few miles and one more bridge, we were safely anchored at Hospital Point in Norfolk. It was above 110 again and about the only thing we could do was drink water and stay in the shade. I wanted to go ashore but it was out of the question in this heat.
Okay, the picture is from the Great Dismal Swamp, but Norfolk is not that pretty from the water.