Docking Nightmare

Docking Nightmare   …   Wednesday 31st October

We filled up with diesel and left River Dunes Marina at around 8.30 this morning.  It was a bright day but the wind was pretty strong and made it feel really cold. We motored the entire way because with the exception of 5 miles up the Neuse river where winds were right on our nose, the rest of the route was far too narrow and shallow to sail. The highlight of the day was the sighting of many dolphins as we came out of the Adams Creek canal. Some of them were really close. Then we arrived at Town Creek Marina, Beaufort and had an absolute nightmare pulling in to the slip. We were more or less completely unprepared - we had some lines ready but no information on whether it was going to be a port or starboard tie up. As it turned out - neither / both. It was a slip where you needed to grab lines off the posts at either side or loop your own lines round. We decided to try and go stern in as it makes it easier to get on and off the boat and easier to depart. We have learned that in close manouvering we have no directional control at all in reverse (inadequate flow over the rudder) and were taught by a couple in Norfolk how to stop the boat using reverse then pivot around the keel with the engine in slow forward and full rudder. This works great in still conditions but today having come to a stop the 15 knot wind then pushed us right past the slip and we ended up having to come in to the dock at the end of the row. The marina guy said "pass me your stern rope and i'll pull you round". Well we should have paused and figured out what the rest of the plan was because we ended up drifting up against the front of a power boat and having a total fiasco trying to get the boat round and getting lines to and from the poles. We're now safely docked but it was the most miserable experience. We walked into Beaufort but I don't think either of us really enjoyed it because we are so bummed out about the docking. To add insult to injury - the only reason we are docked is because the guides write such off-putting descriptions of the anchorages, but there are lots of boats anchored in what appear to be beautiful situations. I'm feeling totally frustrated and have no hesitation about labeling this as far and away the low point of our trip so far.

Mike

34 43 32.3 N, 76 39 54.8 W

Boat aground - Not ours thank goodness. This boat was in Town Creek, Beaufort and had clearly been washed ashore during the storm. It wasn't the only boat we saw aground today.

Black crowned night heron - hanging out in Town Creek Marina. This bird did not like my flash gun and took off with much squawking

Time to move on

Time to move on   ...   Tuesday 31st October 2012

The wind seems to have finally subsided and we are more than ready to move on. We cycled into Oriental again today in an effort to avoid going completely stir-crazy. This has been a very comfortable place to be but there isn't too much to do or see. When we got back from town we bumped into the couple on the boat opposite ours. Ed's first words were "Terrible news". They had just found out that whilst their house back in New Jersey is still standing, all their neighbors houses have been swept away and the area around them totally devastated. They live on a barrier island on the Jersey shore and their house is built on stilts. They had seen photographs showing that everything except their house was completely gone and the land remaining was underwater.  Their cars were parked under the house. Needless to say, they seemed shocked beyond words. They will now close up their boat and head back to New Jersey to try and sort things out.
I don't think anyone left today, but I suspect that a number of boats will move on tomorrow. We plan to head on to Beaufort first thing in the morning.

Mike

We got off easy

We got off easy   …   Monday 29^th October 2012

Some watery sunshine appeared this morning.  We decided to go for a walk to look at the Neuse River.  While there were some whitecaps, it didn’t look especially spectacular.  As we walked back the wind intensified, the sun vanished and the temperature dropped.  The water levels in the marina seem to have receded. The forecast continues to show strong winds with high gusts for tomorrow.  Having looked at the news coverage of the storm, we feel that we got off lightly.  It seems that New Jersey, New York and New England will get the brunt of the storm. While we had wind and rain for 48 hours it really wasn’t all that bad here.  For one thing the marina never lost power and there wasn’t any flooding near here. We hope things go better than expected for everyone up north.

Not only did we get lucky with the storm, we were lucky enough to meet some very nice people here.  Today, Lee and Lynn who we had drinks with on Saturday night, dropped by with some information on the forces that an anchor would need to sustain.  We spent some time chatting this afternoon and then they came round for a drink before dinner.  They have had their boat "Serendipity" for just over two years and keep it up in Tiverton, RI, although they themselves come from Manhattan.  Last winter they went to the Bahamas/Abacos.  They have some great knowledge and experiences to share and similar to ourselves have recently stepped away from their careers - so it's really interesting to hear their thoughts.

[The anchor article prompted us to finally dig out the second anchor.  We now know that it is a spade anchor and we know the model/size.  We also measured the chain on both anchors and have more of a handle on how good our ground tackle is/should be.  This had been the source of some worries after we talked to a Canadian sailor in Norfolk who suggested that not only was our anchor undersized for the boat but also a CQR would be ‘useless’ in the Bahamas.]  

If all goes well we will make preparations tomorrow and re-start our journey south on Wednesday.

Gloria

Dunes River Marina Clubhouse - still a bit breezy

The Neuse River - some whitecaps remain, but nothing spectacular

Leaf_1

Leaf_2

Hanging out in the storm

Hanging out in the storm   …   Sunday 28th October

It was a wet and windy night but not too bad - we never felt unsafe. One problem is that it' s really noisy, partly as a result of the wind blowing through the rigging but also because of the halyards banging on the mast. It doesn't seem to matter how hard we try to tie these away so they won't bang they always seem to end up making some noise. In the middle of the night I went out again to try and solve the problem, without much success, and this morning we re-worked it so they were tied away at different angles. So far this seems to have helped. We spent the day hanging out on the boat and then this afternoon over in the club house watching the Patriots. We, along with two other couples, were invited round this evening for "panninis" with a lovely couple called Carl and Chris. They have a fantastic custom built 53ft Shannon motor sailor and spend 10 days sailing then leave the boat where they are and return home for 20 days. It's fascinating to hear different peoples stories. Walter and Donna, a dentist and teacher from Ontario Canada, bought an Island Packet in the Chesapeke area and are now cruising for a year. Bill and Laura used to live in Bangor Maine but got fed up of the long winters and now live in Fort Lauderdale Florida. They are heading south in their trawler and for them this is their return journey having spent the summer up north. We had a great evening with lots of fine food and wine. The wind has now moved more to the north west and seems to have picked up in strength. We are hoping the storm doesn't cause too much damage and misery up north. No photos today - everything was just too damp and miserable to take out the camera.

Mike

Wind and Rain

Wind and Rain   …   Saturday 27^th October 2012

We spent most of the day on the boat listening to the wind.  After darkness fell the intensity of the gusts seemed to pick up.  We notice that the docks are rising. Hopefully this will abate before the floating docks reach the tops of the pilings (now about 6 ft away).  We had a reservation for dinner at the clubhouse here.  We put on our foul weather gear and scurried along the docks in bare feet carrying our shoes under our jackets.  Dinner was pretty good.  We spent a few lovely minutes sitting in front of the fireplace.  Then on went the foul weather gear, off came the shoes and we scurried back to the boat.  Now, the lantern is adding some warmth.  Mike is getting his photos together for the blog.  I think we are both wondering how much sleep we will get tonight….

View out of the perspex companionway hatch - we are stern to the wind, which probably makes no difference from a security point of view, but it does mean we have to close the companionway to stop the rain blowing in

Looking up through the hatch above the main cabin

Watching the clock!

... and the barometer - not sure this is an accurate measurement as the measurement disk seems to rotate fairly freely!

The right decision?

The right decision?    …    Friday 26^th October 2012

24 hours ago I thought we might regret not heading on to Beaufort. I have just checked the latest forecast and where we are, 20 miles to the north west of Beaufort they are predicting wind gusts up to 60 knots on Sunday. Whatever it turns out to be here, I suspect that it will be worse at the coast and I'm happy we decided to stay. We spent the day "battening down the hatches". We doubled up on our lines to the dock, wrapped line around our mainsail cover and tied up our genoa, to ensure that neither of these come lose. We are in as safe a position as is possible, in an enclosed basin tied up to a sturdy new dock. We've met some great people here - all in the same situation and it's comforting to know that we'll be in good company. Gloria did our laundry this morning and I cycled back to town to pick up a few additional groceries. I'm trying to put up a few photos from each day and I'm really enjoying having the time to spend on photography, but today the only shots I took were of a snake that had unfortunately been run over on the road - it seemed really sad. It's quite hard to take photos every day that you are happy to show. I recall reading about an outstanding wildlife photographer called Jim Brandenburg who got fed up with people saying to him the only reason he got good photos is because he took so many. So he set himself the goal of taking one and only one photograph every day for 90 days - and published the book "Chased by the light". This was back in the days of film and I can't imagine how hard that must have been - his pictures are amazing - and I don't think he was shooting roadkill. Anyway, we'll see what sort of photo opportunities the storm brings over the next few days.

Mike

still at ….  

35 31 55.3 N, 76 37 24.5 W

Snakeskin

Snakeeye

The calm before …

The calm before …    Thursday 25^th October 2012

As the forecast degenerates the marina seems to fill up.  First thing this morning the forecast was suggesting that hurricane Sandy would move further off the coast.  That meant that the chance of high winds for Beaufort, NC was reducing.  So we arranged to go to Beaufort a day early (Friday) and wait out the storm there.  We spent the morning cleaning the dinghy and putting it up on the fore deck. Then we cycled into Oriental (more about that later).  When we got back to the boat and checked the forecast again, the expectations seemed to have worsened.  Now the wind speeds for Beaufort are predicted to be higher - 30 knots gusting to 42 knots, and with the track of the storm closer to land the chance of tropical storm force winds of 50 knots is 30%. So we decided to stay put here at the River Dunes marina on Broad Creek.  We are thinking we’ll be here until Monday or Tuesday.

Oriental is a small town that describes itself as the sailing capital of North Carolina.  Everyone says there are more boats than people and that could well be the case. We had seen a map at the marina with little markers for restaurants, cafes and marinas.  Our expectations for the town were tempered by a conversation with my sister-in-law Fran who pointed out that the Mobil travel guide only listed one place for Oriental… As it transpired, the town is tiny but appealing with neatly kept homes and lots of marinas.  We cycled around, took the view of the harbor from the bridge, studied some shrimping boats at the docks.  Most important of all we found a place for lunch.  This was called the Food Emporium and was fantastic.  Mike had a cup of vegetable soup and a pulled pork sandwich—Carolina style.  I had something called a Porky Pang sandwich—pork and peppers and hot sauce with lettuce and tomato.  It was outstanding.  We even bought a loaf of bread there—it was so good.  We rounded out our tour with a trip to the marine consignment store.  Here there was a bewildering array of stuff.  To be honest, most of it I couldn’t even recognize.  What kind of a sailor am I?

Shrimp Boast being painted at the dock in Oriental

Painter taking his lunch break at Oriental docks

The Pool complex at Dunes River Marina

Reflections in the Pool

The club house at Dunes River Marina from the dock

River Dunes Harbor Club and Marina

River Dunes Harbor Club and Marina   …   Wednesday 24th October 2012

It was hard to imagine today that we have bad weather on the way. The air was warm and the sky was blue and vast as we crossed wide expanses of open waters in the Pamlico and Neuse Rivers. For now our emphasis has definitely changed from trying to make good distance to ensuring we are in the safest place when Hurricane Sandy passes up the coast. Today there were a number of locations that we could have anchored, but we felt we had to check out the River Dunes Harbor Club and Marina. The Waterways guide describes it as a "must stop" and we had personal recommendations from other sailors we talked to. So we left Belhaven some time around 9am and had a very peaceful 40 mile trip. The genoa went up and down more often than I can count as we tried to make the most of the light winds, but more than anything this was a day where we just felt lucky to be where we are. We arrived at the marina at around 3pm and were immediately impressed. For $1 a foot (i.e. $46) you get a fine dock in a protected basin, with beautiful surroundings, access to club house, outdoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, weights room, showers and laundry. To give some comparison, we were quoted $3.50 a foot in Annapolis …. but declined. We spent some time at the pool / jacuzzi and then headed for the showers. I had been taking photos of Gloria swimming so I arrived at the shower block with my camera gear, but as a result of poor planning, no soap. What kind of wierdo arrives for a shower with a camera and no soap!? Anyway, I can't say it was the greatest shower I ever had , but just as I was finishing I spotted a  tiny frog on the wall and because I had my camera with me I was able to get some reasonable shots. We plan to spend at least one more night here and explore the local area on our bikes, the re-assess the forecast and decide whether to hold up or move on to Beaufort. 

Mike

35 05 03.3 N, 76 36 03.3 W

A shrimper out on the Neuse River

Pool waters

Gloria in the Marina Pool

Shower Frog

Belhaven, North Carolina

Belhaven, North Carolina   …   Tuesday 23rd October 2012

Before we left the anchorage in the Alligator River, we had seen a stunning sunrise above flat water with wisps of mist. We motored through the Alligator River/Pungo River canal. The trip through the canal to the Pungo River was really quite beautiful changing from cypress swamp to an area of marsh and finally to tangled woodlands. We spotted many bald eagles (we think eight) and saw two deer standing in the water.   We carried on along the Pungo River to enter the breakwater at Belhaven. We are now anchored just opposite the town. The cruising guide suggests that Belhaven has a number of shops, restaurants and cafes.  We thought we would walk around the town and stop off somewhere for a coffee.  As it turned out the only café closes in the afternoon.  A real estate guy outside the now defunct ‘Wine and Words’ told us of a restaurant that is open Wednesday to Saturday….Today being Tuesday this seemed of limited interest. Surprisingly, we managed to buy a cold drink and some tamales in the Mexican shop.  A trip to the library, where we got eight paperbacks for free, completed our tour of Belhaven. While the real estate chap described it as the last undeveloped town on the eastern seaboard, it seemed to me like a small town in Maine without the snow and cold weather.

Gloria

35 31 55.3 N, 76 37 24.5 W

I just wanted to add that the Tamales were excellent and we also enjoyed pork filet in a cherry and port reduction (a la Bruce Aidells pork book). I mention this simply to reinforce my brothers observation that this trip seems to be all about watching the Patriots and eating fine food. Spot on Mart … I can't argue with that!

We are closely watching how the weather develops over the next few days and planning where to be to ride out the high winds that are forecast (30+ mph). At the minute we have a booking for a  slip at a well protected dock in Beaufort, NC.

Mike

Sunrise on the Alligator River

Our neighbors in the early morning

The Pungo Canal - you need to keep a keen eye open for stumps and floating logs. You can also just see a road bridge in the distance - it was mandated to be a minimum 65ft clearance as are all fixed bridges on the ICW, but was built to 64ft ... our mast plus electronics is 62ft so this was even closer than usual

Views of marsh lands and forest along the banks

One of the older buildings in Belhaven - a sleepy little town

Top Gun

Top Gun   …   Monday 22nd October 2012

Apologies for the late posting - our cell phone and internet access is currently poor and intermittent. We may or may not be able to get up photos - if not we will add them later. I have also gone back to coordinates for now to avoid one set of interactions with the internet

Normally I'd start the blog in the morning but today I'm going to start right now. We are currently anchored in the Alligator River some 50 miles south of Elizabeth City. It's wild, remote and beautiful, and as it turns out is also where US military F16s practice bombing runs. We saw them all afternoon making low level dives, pulling up steeply and then inverting before heading out - it was quite the sight. All went quiet after we anchored and we did experience an absolutely stunning sunset in the utmost tranquility. Now it's dark and they are back with a vengeance. It's just like Top Gun - we can just hear "love lift us up where we belong" playing quietly in the background as the jets scream overhead and Kelly McGillis just turned up in a dinghy. Well the screaming jets is true. Gloria suggests we add audio to the blog to fully reflect the experience. Earlier today we were wondering just how much fuel does the US military use every day as a proportion of national consumption. Gloria wants to know why they can't just stay home and do their knitting! Sounds like a good question for tonight's presidential debate. Anyway, back to today.  We headed out from Elizabeth City just before 8 am in a perfect cloudless blue sky and light northern winds. We tried to motor sail in the morning but there wasn't enough wind to keep the genoa filled. The Albemarle Sound has a fearsome reputation for kicking up unpleasant steep waves, but today it was a picnic. We motored across and then were able to motor sail down the Alligator river, reaching our destination about 3 pm. As mentioned above, the sunset was spectacular and the Beef Carbonnade which we ate for dinner was also very fine. Now, as I draw this to a close, all has gone quiet … for now. 

35 40 27.7 N, 76 03 24.8 W

Elizabeth City shortly after sunrise as we depart

The most tranquil sunset of the year so far!

A view of our neighbors at anchor

A wider view that gives more of a sense of the "big sky"

Unexpectedly lovely

Unexpectedly lovely   ...   Sunday 21^st October 2012

A string of five sailboats left the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center (and highway rest area) this morning headed to the lock at South Mills.  We emerged from the lock (like a row of ducklings) into the Turners Cut.  Here the depths were greater and the waterway widened.  Turners Cut seemed to traverse an actual cypress swamp and was very beautiful.  In a few miles, we entered the Pasquotank River.  The river was fairly narrow at this point and meandered through many turns. Much of the surface of the water was covered in bright green duck weed (at least that’s how we think of it), adding to the sense of being in a swamp.  This was everything we had been expecting of the Dismal Swamp Canal and hadn’t found.

After passing through a couple of bascule (opening) bridges, we arrived at Elizabeth City, NC.  The famous ‘free’ docks seemed to be completely full!  However, a few boaters waved us on to a facing dock further along.   A few of the sailors who had come down from the Dismal Swamp, kindly helped us to tie up the boat.  Then Mike helped bring another boat in to tie up behind us. It was still early afternoon on a lovely day in a great town.  The local supermarket provides a shuttle to take boaters from the docks to the store and back.  We took advantage of this service to get some provisions.  [If we’d really been using our heads we would have got some beer while we had transportation.]  Later, we even managed to find a sports bar showing the Pats game—a nail biter with a happy ending.  What a great day!

Gloria

p.s. thanks to Dave Cosgrove we now have the basics of a Google map showing our position. We will update this with our new positions and retrospectively add in our previous stops

Map of locations

Lock Side Reflections - South Mills Lock

Motoring the upper Pasquotank River

The Upper Pasquotank River

Ripples from the wake

The Dismal Swamp

The Dismal Swamp   …   Saturday 20th October 2012

The Atlantic Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) starts in Norfolk (mile zero) and heads south up the Elizabeth river. Almost immediately you have a choice of taking the Virginia cut to Albermarle sound (faster but less scenic) or go through the Dismal Swamp Canal, which is more interesting with a greater variety of places to stop, but is shallow and has speed limits. We chose to go the Dismal Swamp route because it is recommended that if you can go this way you should. We have a 5'6'' draft and controlling depths in the canal are 6'. We left the dock in Norfolk shortly after 8am with two key time points to meet - the opening of a road bridge at mile 6 at 9.30am and entry to the lock at mile 11 at 11am. We arrived in good time at the bridge but it didn't open until almost 10am because the adjacent railway bridge was down and there's no point opening if you can't get through anyway. So after much hanging around with about 5 other sailboats and a dozen power boats we made it under the bridge. Shortly after we turned off into the Dismal Swamp route - accompanied by only two other boats. The next five miles meandering along the river to the lock were really beautiful and going through the lock was fun. We then motored an additional 16 miles down the canal itself which was pleasant enough if a bit repetitive. We saw depths of 6'9" on the depth meter but mostly it was more than 8'. However, we saw numerous floating logs and every now and again hit some piece of submerged debris, which was a bit nerve wracking. We arrived at the Dismal Swamp visitors center at about 3pm and tied up to their dock for the evening and took a walk down the nature trail. Originally this area was a vast wetland, but early explorers were keen to drain the swamp, harvest the trees and turn the area over to agriculture. The canal was finished in 1805 and most of the hardwood was logged out by the 1880s but logging continued until the 1960s. Since then efforts have been made to protect the area as a wilderness and today it is home to a wide range of wildlife including bobcats, otters and some 350 black bears. When we came back from our walk we found another boat rafted up. We had expected this as the dock really has only room for about 3 boats. The only issue will be whether our neighbors (Steve and Rick) are as keen to get going early in the morning as we are!

p.s. we are now in North Carolina

36 30 23.7 N, 76 21 21.0W

Mike

Deep Creek lock at the south end of the Dismal Swamp Canal

 The Dismal Swamp Canal

Rafting at the visitors Center

Could it be?

Could it be?    ...   Friday 19 October 2012

We started the day by moving the boat to a different slip within the same marina.  The first pass didn’t go quite as planned, so we motored out of the marina and back in.  The second time we tried it from the other direction—getting the stern to go to port.  This went quite smoothly and we came alongside the finger pier beautifully.  Once we were tied up, we met a lovely couple, Eddie and Sandi, who gave us loads of helpful tips on close quarters maneuvers, crossing to the Bahamas, negotiating locks, safety at sea, etc.  They have been living on their motor vessel, Tarquin, for the last 3 years and have lots of experience. [The name of their vessel is taken from the good luck charm bears that WWI pilots took with them on their missions.]

After mailing our ballots, we elected to take the ferry over to Portsmouth on the other side of the Elizabeth River.  A Norfolk native told us that Portsmouth has more ‘original’ buildings near the waterfront.  We strolled around and stumbled across a German restaurant.  After our discussion of German delicacies with Klaus yesterday, it seemed like fate.  The post-lunch stroll to the grocery store seemed much harder. Perhaps a few too many sausages were responsible. 

We wandered back to the waterfront and picked up our propane tank from the excellent folks at “Mile Marker 0” marine supply. While waiting for the ferry we got talking to Larry and Wanda from Saint Louis.  They wondered what we were doing with the propane tank.  They were so impressed with the idea of the boat that they walked along to have a look at Cotinga.

Mike went out to take some photos before dinner and was telling me about all the people that he chatted with.  While I’d like to believe that the two of us are undergoing a personality transformation, I am starting to think that people really are friendlier in other parts of the nation.

Gloria

Three views of the prow of the Battle Ship Wisconsin - now permanently docked in Norfolk

High rise buildings at sunset - Norfolk

A couple of friendly gentleman enjoying an quiet drink on the front step of one of the older Norfolk homes

Fountain in the Pagoda Garden - Norfolk

Locust - a surprising visitor to the boat

We meet up with Charlotte and Klaus

We meet up with Charlotte and Klaus   …   Thursday 18th October 2012

I could get used to being on a dock! It's very convenient. I got up early to take some pre-sunrise photos - all I had to do was grab my camera bag and tripod and off I went. A couple of hours later it was time to make a start on some jobs. We wanted to change the oil in the engine so I took the paddle wheel ferry over to Portsmouth and the "Mile Marker 0" marine supply shop to get some oil and a few other spare parts. The owner, Robert McBride, could not have been more helpful. He found me a supplier of the the Yanmar oil filter we needed just a few hundred yards down the road. Rather than charge me a mark up - he simply made the connection and sent me down the road to pick it up. He gave me an empty plastic can for the oil waste, which he took back later in the day. The oil change itself went fine. Judging by the color of the old oil it was definitely needed and we feel good to have learned one more skill for the boat. We also cleaned out the bilge which has tendency to get a bit malodorous! Again dock access to a hose pipe was a big help. This afternoon Charlotte and Klaus came to the boat and brought with them our mail that Sue and Rod had kindly forwarded. (Charlotte is Gloria's sister-in-law Fran's sister and lives in Virginia Beach). We had a great visit and it was a real pleasure to see them both. The most critical part of the mail were our postal ballots for the forthcoming elections. We'll be doing our part to make sure the right man wins the Presidential election and the right woman wins the Massachusetts Senatorial race! Send us a comment if you want us to articulate why this is the right choice! During the day we chatted with a number of people from other cruising boats - it' great to meet up with others and hear about their plans and experiences. We also talked with a another Morris owner (Conrad) who keeps his boat up in Bass Harbor but lives here in Norfolk. It turns out he knows this boat and it's former owner Garry Fischer, having competed in Newport to Bermuda races, and had actually been on "Diva" (as she was formerly known) previously. Our plan is to spend one more day in Norfolk and then head southwards. We are still trying to work out the best route and preferred stopping points.

Mike

Charlotte and Klaus

The view from the Waterside Marine (where we are docked) across the river to the naval ship yards

Additional ships undergoing work

A ship in dry - dock

On to Norfolk

On to Norfolk   ...   Wednesday 17^th October 2012

I can’t believe that I was so worried about New York City earlier on, yet I never gave a thought to Norfolk.  It’s such a busy port with the added excitement of the jumbo Navy ships.  Why didn’t I realize what it would be like?

We left the little cove near Deltaville at 7:20 this morning after a fantastic sunrise.  We motor-sailed with the genoa for a while until our route took us on a more southerly track and the sail was flapping.  Then it was a question of settling down for a lot of motoring. As we approached the Thimble Shoal light, I started to get an inkling of what was in store—a tug towing a barge was followed closely by a very large vessel. Once we crossed over the shipping channel and turned toward the Hampton Rhodes Bridge and tunnel, there seemed to be an endless precession of giant boats.  Just after passing the bridge/tunnel, we started to see the docked Navy vessels, including what we took to be two aircraft carriers.  Making our way into the Elizabeth river we went past huge containers ships being loaded, a large coal dock and finally to the USS Wisconsin—a battleship. 

Having negotiated all that traffic and passed all these amazing sights, the docking adventure did not disappoint!  The marina is called the Waterside Marina.  Mike had phoned in the morning to reserve a slip.  When we were within a half-mile he phoned again for some directions. Apparently the chap on the phone wasn’t overly clear.  Mike reported that we would be coming into the slip bow first with the dock on the starboard side of the boat. When we arrived we found the marina behind a protective seawall.  I think this might be the smallest place ever to call itself a marina.  We inched inward, peering about to try to figure out where we should be going.  Finally we saw some guys who seemed to wave us on.  Even getting between the end of one floating dock and the sailboat tied up on the interior seawall seemed impossible.  As we approached the intended slip it became clear that we would have the port side to the floating dock.  This sent me rocketing around the deck trying to set the dock lines correctly.  Then Mike decided that we should back into the dock!  I think I stopped breathing for quite a while. Fortunately the captain can stay calm under duress.  I managed to throw the spring line to one of the fellows on the dock.  Mike managed to get the boat partially turned by going forward past the end of the slip and then backing up.  At this point we were able to throw the stern line to the second fellow on the dock.  He pointed out that the bow was starting to drift out.  I ran forward to get the dock line at the bow and threw that to the chap holding the spring line.  And so we were pivoted into position and made fast to the slip after another mad rush to get bumpers out. The captain is very pleased with himself.  Without a doubt he did a fantastic job on a maneuver he had never attempted before.  He thinks that my breathless state upon arrival was the result of his awesome docking skills.  I put it down to sheer panic.  It’s all a matter of your perspective.

Now we are in the very center of Norfolk, near to the tall buildings and waterfront parks.  Across the river is an occupied Navy dry dock.  If you think those vessels look large in the water, you have got to see what they look like out of the water.  It seems quite odd to be in the middle of all this hustle and bustle after the relative quiet of our days on the Chesapeake Bay.

p.s. this is our first ever night on a dock and the first night we have paid for "accommodation" since heading south from East Greenwich.

Gloria

36 50 38.7 N, 76 17 34.9W

Aircraft carrier

Futuristic looking warship

Naval helicopter

Coal Processing

Two cranes having a tiff 

 Downtown Norfolk