Today will be a long day so are up and out by 7:00 am. We plan a long haul through the bridges along the Virginia Cut that have timed openings at the hour and half hour along with a lock and bridge in Great Bridge, VA. It’s another great day on the water as we pass along quickly.
We had a wonderful night on the hook in north Alligator River. The winds are a nice breeze as we pass through Palmico Bay to the other side and then onto the Virginia Cut. We travel uneventfully and nothing to report as we get closer to mile 0 of the ICW in Norfolk, VA. The depths are great and there is virtually no tide on Palmico until after the lock. The lock is simply a leveling lock and can be 2-3 feet. We have no idea what the difference is right now but will find out when we get there.
The day is filled with other traveling vessels some of which are more than 100 feet long. We always slow for slower boats so the passing of so many seems endless today. Crossing the Bay today was easy as the winds were kind. It is a shallow 12 feet in the channel and we bet that this bay can kick up a good wave if the winds are not so kind. It’s a long haul across even for us traveling at 25 mph. Other boats and the weaving of the channel account for the hour and a half crossing.
The Virginia Cut has bridges on her that account for some time loss. The good thing is that they do open every half hour so waiting for the bridge isn’t too bad if you time it right. We had to wait 10 minutes for the North Landing Bridge but after that it was smooth sailing with timing our arrival at the next bridge that was within the next half hour.
When we finally approached Great Bridge Bridge and then the lock they are timed together. So many boats were waiting for the bridge that we wondered if we would get through. No problem even with the 2 boats that were 100 plus feet in length. The water is high and I think that all we had to do was tie up to the bollard, wait until the doors closed on the south side and then the north opened. I don’t think there was a change in depth for the lock.
We made our way to Waterside Marina for a couple night’s stay. We want to pick up the replacement lens at Best Buy, go to Virginia Beach and stop at the Naval Museum called Nauticus and also tour the USS Wisconsin which is part of Nauticus.
Today we get situated at the marina and head to buy the lens and then hit the beach for some R and R. We contacted Uber for a quick ride to both places. Virginia Beach is so full of people. I don’t think we’ve seen this many people at a beach since years ago when we visited Hampton Beach. It was packed. Scott went for a run and then we took a dip in the ocean. It wasn’t cold but it wasn’t the 80 plus we’ve seen in Florida. We had a blast in the waves. As the night fell it was a lot cooler so we stopped at Lager Heads on the beach for a craft beer. Dinner was at Cactus Jacks on the Atlantic Blvd tourist strip. We took an Uber back to the boat which completed our amazing day.
