Norfolk to Buck Isand

Day 7, Saturday, April 22, 2017

You can monitor my trip at the link: Little Star's Progress Live

A couple of huge cranes in the Norfolk ship yards

We have approximately 180 miles to travel and 8 days to get to our destination.  The problem is that they are calling for high winds and storm starting this afternoon and increasing thru next Tuesday. And about 60 nautical miles from Norfolk we encounter the Albemarle Sound which is notoriously a rugged crossing in bad weather.  So, our plan is to make 57 miles today, anchor in a protected area near the north side of Albemarle and see what the following days hold in store.  

With all of that in mind, we arose early, performed all of the pre-trip checks and cast off the dock lines at 6:30.  The first ½ hour of the trip took us

Navel museum in Norfolk

through the busy port around Norfolk.  I find it hard to describe the diversity and magnitude of maritime activity that we saw.  And then very quickly we were in an area of salt marshes and cypress trees. 

The forecast was for high winds and possible rain but what we got was a beautiful sunny warm day.  I dressed for the cold but quickly changed into shorts and a t-shirt. 

Just outside of the Norfolk area, we encountered our first lift bridge, the Gilmerton Lift Bridge. This huge structure lifts a section of US Route 13 and

Great Bridge Lock

opens on the hour and the half hour.  We hit it right on the 7:00 hour and since it was Saturday, the guy willingly opened it and allowed us to pass.  Had it been a week day, we would have had to wait until after 9:30.  This is the first of many draw bridges that we will have to pass through on our journey. 

At mile 11, we came to the Great Bridge Lock.  This little lock was opening just as we arrived so we were able to motor right in and secure ourselves to the wall.  The lock dropped us a sum total of 1 foot before the downstream gate opened to let us out.  Within 300 yards, we encountered the Great Bridge Bridge.  Here we had to wait for about 20 minutes for it to open.  We let Jim jump ship for a run for those groceries that we were too cheap to pay Uber to deliver us to last night.  Once through the bridge, I pulled the boat

Motoring down the canal

up to the fuel dock at Atlantic Yacht Basin for some fuel and to pump out our holding tank.

From Great Bridge, we entered a 10 mile long stretch of the straight Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal.  This is the first of several of these long straight canals that have been cut through the swamp land to in the development of the Intracoastal Waterway.

The skies remained clear and sunny until about the last mile or so before we reached our chosen anchorage.  We were hit with a hard rain in a thunderstorm that had strong winds. 

At mile 57, we pulled in behind Buck Island and dropped our anchor.  We had good holding ground and felt quite secure as we battened down for a night of storms and high winds. 

Jim had brought some beautiful steaks so he sat out in the cockpit nursing the propane grill through the cooking process while the wind and rain howled.  Of course, the grill was not as effective in the wind so he had to stay with the meat for in inordinate amount of time.  Janine fixed cheesy rice and cheesy grits to round out the main course.  Jim and I enjoyed a spinach

Passing through Coinjock on the way to Buck Island (last year)

salad and we all shared a box of “Gourmet Luscious Lemon Cookies” for dessert.

After dinner we spent quite a bit of time planning our trip over the next several days.  The weather for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday looks  unfavorable for crossing the notorious Albemarle Sound. It appears that the winds and waves will be most favorable for crossing the Sound early tomorrow morning so we decided that we would get up at 5:00 in the morning, check the weather forecast and possibly head out at first light.

The 57 mile trip was an uncommonly long one so bed came as a welcome reward at around 9:00.