Portsmouth, Va - Day 3 and 4

Flipper and traffic.

We weighed anchor at daybreak in order to make Portsmouth by early afternoon. It was another fine morning heading south into a slight breeze. Showers were possible as the clouds moved in late morning, but the rain held off until late afternoon.

We counted nine sailboats leaving the Piankatank. Add to that the four trawlers and that makes for a lot of folks heading for Florida. You can hear the radio chatter in French, as many boats are from Canada. Mint Julep is running at the head of the pack and leaves all the sailboats and most of the trawlers behind as she passes Wolftrap Light north of the York River entrance.

As we approach the Hampton Roads area, naval vessels and freighters appeared on the horizon. Then Ruth cries , "Flipper". Sure enough we were in Seaworld with porpoises jumping alongside. One was just a few feet from the port quarter.

Crossing the Thimble Shoals bar on the north side of the Hampton Roads channel we had to jog behind a massive container ship entering from the Atlantic. Making our way south along the eastern edge of the Elizabeth River shipping channel we passed four aircraft carriers in the Norfolk yards. This is the busiest waterway we experience with all the barges, freighters, naval vessels, Homeland Security boats and tugs moving along. This does not include the many pleasure craft that ply these waters. On top of it all, this is the only entrance to the AICW (Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway) which begins at the Naval Hospital at Mile 0.

We planned to anchor in the bay just below the Hospital, but 8-10 boats were already lying there. The numerous crab-pots limited the open space. We refueled at Tidewater Yacht marina and with the storm forecasts for the next day, we elected to take a slip for two nights and hunker down.

A nice snow-crab and seafood dinner at the Marina restaurant over looking the lights across the river at Norfolk made a nice close to a busy day.

Data: 7:15 to 13:30. 50 kmiles. 913 engine hours. 50 gallons of fuel for 23 net hours or 2.1 gal/hour.