ORIENTAL TO NORFOLK
April 10, 2012
We left Oriental and sailed into "no signal" country. The immediate destination was Belhaven, NC. It is a small community with a couple of small marinas and we took a side tie in the Belhaven Waterway Marina. It reminded us of St. Christophers in Port O'Connor but with some very distinctive differences. The staff met us as usual and they rigged fenders from their inventory so that all was ready when we got there. The "long dock" was a very manicured lawn with screened porches and most interesting facilities. For instance, the men's head was decorated with 1944 Navy stuff including "dear john" letters, discharge papers, magazines, etc. Everything was closed in town so we stayed aboard and did no tourism stuff. Early next day, we set sail for and anchorage to be determined "when we got tired". That turned out to be Broad Creek which was an ideal place to duck out of the 30 plus knots of wind. We barely moved all night and the holding was superb. The real plus to the winds was the fact that it kept at least 2 million flies in the air and not camping under our bimini. Scurv claims it his patrolling that did the trick.
We left the anchorage at 0645 this morning bound for Norfolk. We were excited to finally cross into Virginia. Little did we realize that the real challenge would be within 15 miles of that destination. We managed to catch every one of the six bridges with time to spare and we had a lock to boot. Those last 15 miles took almost five hours. We cooled our heels over two and one half hours at one bridge due to construction. As much as bridge delays are irritating, one boat in our little gaggle had a faulty shift lever. The solo sailor had to run below to shift the transmission. That made hovering near bridges a bit of a hassle but he handled it fine.
We got to Norfolk just at sunset and what a sight it is. To call this place a Navy town is grossly understated. There are dry docks almost downtown with cruisers, subs, destroyers and even an aircraft carrier . My Dad spoke of liberty here in the early '40s but I know it was nothing like it is now. In the middle of all the dry docks and warehouses lies a very attractive downtown.
We chose a remote marina on Scott's Creek for our stay here. We think we will retrieve the pickup and stay a while to do the local history. This place has a very rich history and that may take a week or so. We have now checked off another bucket list item. Technically, we are on the Elizabeth River but we are one bridge away from the Chesapeake. We sailed past mile zero on the AICW. How cool is that? Pictures later, this auld dawg is tired. Rack time now

New late night snack: cold hot dog weiners and brandy.