Coinjock, NC to Hampton, Virginia

 We arrived at the marina in Coinjock, NC on June 17th. We had not planned to get there until the following day, but the thunderstorm warnings motivated us to arrive a day early. The storms passed overnight and the wind blew a bit, but all was fine. We awoke on Saturday, June 18th to sunny skies with strong north winds.

We spent the first part of the day doing laundry and checking out the huge boats along the face dock in the marina. The Coinjock marina is a regular stop along the Atlantic ICW. It is the last stop for most boats heading for the Chesapeake Bay. The have a long face dock in the protected river. I am sure that a couple of thousand boats stop here each year. It was clear on this beautiful day that they could handle even the largest boat. We saw one that was way over 100 feet long and many that were close to that. They put us on the north dock, which allowed us to stay for the 2 nights without moving. Almost all boats come here for just one night. The main attraction here is the restaurant. The restaurant is famous for their Prime Rib. 

While I travel, I periodically post on Facebook a few pictures of where we are for friends that do not read this blog. A friend saw that we were going to be in this area, which is where they have a place on the Albemarle Sound. Merry contacted me to see if we could get together. We love catching up with friends, so I made contact when we arrived and arranged to try out the prime rib together. 

Merry and Chuck's place is over an hour away, so it was awesome that they were willing to make the drive. Merry and I used to work together back in the days that I worked for MICROS Systems. Chuck also worked at the company, but we had never met. We had an awesome time catching up and enjoying the good southern food. I opted for the fried chicken and Kim had the prime rib allowing us to try both. 

Merry and Chuck and Kim and I in front of the Coinjock, Marina 

 Merry and Chuck were nice enough to take us to a grocery store to get some provisions for the last legs of our trip north. We are hoping to see them again while we are in the Chesapeake Bay area.

Here is the look along the face dock. The two boats in front are around 80 feet long.

We awoke on June 19th to strong north winds. The winds from the north cause the water to move in the bays and rivers. This creates a strong current. So, we had both the current and wind working against us. We had to start the day, by going out into the open waters of the Currituck Sound. We headed directly north and were making just a little more than 4 knots over ground. It was painfully slow. About half way across the sound, we crossed over into Virginia. 

I tried to get a picture of the conditions as we crossed the Currituck Sound, but you can't see the whitecaps and chop very well. Trust me, it was not the best conditions. 

After a couple of hours, we made it to the protection of the North Landing River. We then passed through the North Landing Natural Area Preserve. It was quite beautiful. The sides were lined with old stumps of cypress trees. No telling how long ago those trees were cut down. 

Cypress stumps along the waterway

We cruised along the river and then canal to the town of Chesapeake, Virginia to the Great Bridge. There is a free dock there that we decided to spend the night if they had space. It turns out that they did and we pulled in and tied up. We then helped two other sailboats get tied up. We had only traveled 32 nm, but that set us up for another short day to make it to our marina. There was a park and a museum there, but sadly the museum was closed. I did some reading and found out that this was the site of one of the earliest actions and a victory for the colonial rebels in the Revolutionary War. 

Just after we arrived at the free dock, two large motor vessels were waiting to open the bridge. This light blue one looked like a space ship.

A shot of SHIFT tied up at the free dock. There is a marina across the river, but we don't need power.

The Great Bridge. The following morning the winds were calm. We were waiting for the on the hour opening. 

Here is a shot of two other boats that were tied up at the free dock.

We made the 9:00 opening of the Great Bridge. The wind had died off and that made the process very easy. Next up was a lock. We had not been through a lock since Coffeeville in Alabama. This lock was very different. The total fall was only 2 feet. It is just put in the river to control tidal flow. Before long we were moving again and headed for Norfolk. 

We were now in the Elizabeth River. We had heard of a bridge that was a problem in this stretch. When we arrived at the bridge, there was a sailboat there that we had helped tie up the day before called "Just Us". He told us he had been waiting for over an hour to get the railroad bridge to open. As it turned out they were waiting for an AMTRAK train. It came and went and still no opening. After another 20 minutes it opened and the highway bridge just after opened and we were both able to get through. 

We started to see larger and larger ships. 

First we saw some freighters

Then we passed through the US Naval Shipyard. There is a Aircraft Carrier and some kind of a transport.

Here is a warship undergoing a refit.

We passed right by this older Aircraft Carrier that is a museum.

Then we passed through the town of Norfolk. They had a cruise ship on the wharf. 

Next was the actual base. Most of the fleet were not there, but they had plenty of ships around 

I had to blow this one up to see the two submarines. Our son Michael served on a sub for 4 years.

This is the largest US Navy base in the world 

One of the newer ships

The experience of passing through the base was awesome. The firepower of the US Navy is just amazing. 

It was then a 7 mile cruise out into the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and over to Southall Landings Marina in Hampton, VA. It is an easy inlet and Steve was there to greet us and get us tied up. It felt so good to shut it down and rest. 

The Marina is in an estuary that has a tidal fall of about 2 feet.

There is a long dock that extends from land out over the flats to the deep water of the creek where the docks are located. 

SHIFT in her new home for the next 2 months.

We had been traveling for about 8 weeks since the time we left Marathon on April 30th. It was now June 20th. I have to admit, I was tired and was looking forward to some down time. I also knew I had some work to do to get SHIFT ready to go cruising in the Chesapeake Bay. In my next entry, I will show you more of our new home and tell you about our plans.