Norfolk 

We left Atlantic Shipyard in Great Bridge, Virginia, leaving our friends and companions of the last month.  They would be heading out tomorrow towards home port, Baltimore.  It was an amazing time with them.  Now, to be on our own was good and bad.  We missed them already but were anxious to get back to our normal routine.  I was lax on my log and updating pictures and needed to get caught up.  I was also anxious to just laze around on the boat, not having any schedules or dinners to meet but we will surely miss them.

Any chance of lingering in our sorrow of saying goodbye was quickly ended as we immediately had to get ready to enter the Great Bridge lock that separates the salt water from the ocean to the fresh water of the inland waterway.  The black brackish water would begin to disappear to the greener waters of the Chesapeake.  The height change on the lock was minimal, only about 6” when all was said and done.  After coming through the Panama Canal, it seemed like child’s play.  As we waited in the small lock for the water level to rise so we could proceed on into the Elizabeth River taking us to Norfolk, I noticed a sign posted that gave distances from that point to other destinations both North and South.   We had come 1236 miles from Key West.  Our farthest point this summer will be Baltimore another 210 miles which seemed like nothing now. 

 We plan to head up the Western shore of the Chesapeake to Baltimore area and then cross over and take the Eastern shore south until we come back to this very spot to put the Knotty Dog to bed for the winter until we return again in the spring to head out on a whole new adventure.

Next year, 2005,  we’ll head on up to New York, 452 miles, then Boston, 717 miles, and the last city listed on the sign is Eastport, Maine, a total of 967 miles.  We plan on going further up to Nova Scotia but don’t have an idea of what the total mileage would be at this point.

We came out through the lock and are immediately greeted by a cue of yachts waiting their turn to come through the lock.  The one in the front was being towed by US Tow, probably headed for Atlantic Yacht Basin for obvious repairs.  All the other boats were patiently waiting their turn to enter the locks and on to wonderful destinations that we just left.

The scenery was pretty with a few homes nestled in the forest and marshes.  We passed many crab pots as we meandered our way on the twists and turns of the Elizabeth River.  It was not long though before we started seeing signs of industry that begins to dominate the shores of this river.  We could sense the importance of it in the big picture of things as we are nearing our grand naval fleet that anchors this part of the Chesapeake.  We had a few bridges to pass that needed openings.  Once you leave the lock, it is a requirement that whomever you went through the lock with, you go through the following bridge openings together, no matter the difference in speed or type of boat.  So the little sports fisher that accompanied us in the lock, even though could go much faster, always had to impatiently wait for us to get there at each opening. 

 After we passed the small bridges that required openings, we came to the more colossal bridges that were the life source to the industrial complexes that we passed.  These were railroad bridges and cargo bridges, not necessarily for cars.  They were massive, old and impressive.  We began to see huge freighters and naval ships at dock getting repairs and work done.  It was not a scenic area by any means.  It was industry at its best.  We were like a small ant traversing past these docks filled with our countries naval fleet.  There was no color here, it was gray and industrial.

Elizabeth River soon begins to empty into the waterfront of Norfolk and Plymouth.  We could see the marina that we were going to spend a few days in.  It had a long front side dock with two large old schooners tied to its side.  To the right was where the festive paddle wheel ferry drops off passengers from Portsmouth just a harbor hop away.  The back drop was city buildings and one I knew would be the mall with Nordstrom’s.  Wow, to be within walking distance of a nice shopping mall would be heaven after 7 months at sea.

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The marina was almost empty and we pulled in and had plenty of open dock space to tie up to.  The marina staff was friendly and helpful and made us feel welcome.  Norfolk has done a revamp of their waterfront and the length of it is one big walk and we were docked right along side.  We were excited to be in the activity of city life.  Today was Saturday and Norfolk was having a Jazz Festival right next door on the park.  The town was buzzing.

 We were near restaurants, museums, bookstores, movie theatres, historic buildings, hotels, Starbucks – what a great contrast to the remote places we have been.

 We spent a few days at Norfolk and took advantage of the convenient sights.  My first impression was that this is a successful racially mixed town.  I’d say the population is half white and black and there’s no attitude.  We felt very safe walking the waterfront night or day.  There’s plenty of activity here and it continues on until late into the early mornings.

We rode our bikes on a traffic-less Sunday all over town.  We wanted to see the historic Ghent area and though it lacked the numerous shops and restaurants that were touted in the guide book, it was an enjoyable ride through old neighborhoods generously bordered by parks.  There is a wonderful small area near Freemason, within walking distance of the boat, which has some notable architectural homes that date back to the Federal Period.   The streets were lined with cobblestones and gas street lamps were a nice touch.

 We spent a half day in the Nauticus Museum on the Waterfront which included a topside tour of the USS Wisconsin.  Not sure if we would recommend that as it was more geared for kids.  We did, however, get to tour the historic 1933 tug, named Huntington.  It has been lovingly restored by the city of Norfolk in appreciation for all its years of service towing and pushing hundreds of submarines and air craft carriers in and out of the harbor for a half century.  We really have a feel for the interior layout of tugs now and are equally impressed with the huge engine rooms and their power.

 One day we took a cruise, yes a cruise on a tour boat, of the world’s largest navy and naval shipyard.  It was a two hour cruise and Ziggy was allowed if we stayed outside on the upper outdoor deck.  That was great as it was sun shaded and we got a great view and nice breeze.  We were truly impressed with our amazing fleet.  The size and number of the ships were beyond belief.  I was amazed to see all the variety.  They had moving hospitals, ships that were like traveling refineries, capable of refueling other ships at sea going 25 knots, aircraft carriers, freight carriers carrying land vehicles for the marines, etc.  It really gives you a feeling of great pride in our country.  Another amazing thing is the mix of people from all over our country working together to make this all happen.  Brave people too, willing to go into dangerous war situations to fight for our country.  What a proud group of people all clustered in one geographic area.   We saw the headquarters for NOAA and their research vessels.  It was worth the tour so we could relax and take it all in without worrying about operating Knotty Dog.

In town we walked past the amazingly large Mac Arthur Memorial.  The memorial is housed in the 19^th century neo-classical City Hall building.  The entire city block is landscaped to commemorate the general.  It was quite a statement in the center of downtown area.

We rode our bikes by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church which was the only building to survive the 1776 leveling of Norfolk during the Revolutionary War.  The quaint brick church and old grave yard dates back to 1739 and we were amazed to see a cannon ball still lodged in the upper wall of the church from the early battler with Lord Dunmore.

 As we walked the waterfront we tried to imagine what it was like during our Civil War with the battle of the Ironclads, the Monitor and the Virginia, just a few 100 yards from where we were standing. 

 We were going to take the paddle wheeler across the channel to see Portsmouth but decided we needed to leave something to look forward to on our return trip.  It was time to head on up the bay.  We were getting the itch again to move on.

Now on to Deltaville