July 11-12, 2007
We weren't arrested, fined or kicked off for exceeding the 24 hour limit at the Great Bridge free dock as we spent the nights of July 11 and 12. We didn't feel guilty about over extending the time limit since no other boats docked on the south side of the bridge anyway. A couple of boats did use the dock on the north side though.
The bridge and lock land areas have been turned into a park. People come to crab, fish, and just watch the recreational and commercial boats, tugs, and barges slowly travel through the lock and bridge area. It is a great way to watch the ICW traffic since you can get so close using the observation areas along the shore; you can talk to people on the vessels passing without even yelling. 35,000 cars/day travel over the bridge.
A Classic Trumpy Waits Patiently
There is a flock of Canadian geese that has one domestic goose and her 3 goslings traveling with them. It looks funny to see the one odd goose in with all the others. They are all beggars and make goose poop piles reflective of their big body size, and it is all over the shore where we have to walk.
A Farm Fresh grocery store about a mile down the road makes it convenient for us to shop for perishable items we have run out of. The only challenge is carrying everything back to FLUKE, especially deciding who has to carry the watermelon and cantaloupe. We reward ourselves with a trip to the nearby Dairy Queen. The cute guy behind the counter sees Ursa peering through the window and hands me a small cup with vanilla ice cream saying, "This is for your dog". Eddie rode his bike to a NAPA store about 5 miles away, risking life and limb along the concrete jungle road with no bike path, to pick up the oil filters we needed for the engine.
Eddie received some sad news at this stop. He was to rendezvous with Mrs. Clark, a former tenant of Sea Oaks. He had started calling her a couple of days before we arrived and couldn't get an answer. Her daughter saw the message and returned Eddie's call to tell him that her mother had died two weeks earlier and that she had it written on her calender to meet with Eddie. We were sorry she missed our boat.
In The Loop
A Good Luck, Friday the 13th, Sunrise Over Norfolk
July 13, 2007
We had to get off the free dock by 0445 so we could get through all four of the Norfolk bridges before they shut down for 2 hours beginning at 0630 for morning rush hour traffic. We were through "our" great bridge and into the Great Bridge Lock (separates the fresh water of the lowland areas from salt water of the Norfolk side) by 0500. Since we were the only ones in the lock and there was hardly any tide we went through quickly. Then it was a rush to get to all the bridges in time.
There was virtually no waterway traffic to impede our progress. A couple of tugs were moving around, presumably to get hooked up with their cargo somewhere. We passed through the old (1928) Jordon Lift bridge, our last one, with 5 minutes to spare. Then we were in the downtown part of the Portsmouth harbor area and passed into the Norfolk Navy section. It was interesting being alone in this usually busy, congested area. We could see people arriving to work and Navy personnel assembled on many of the ships in group formation for their morning "check in". We slowly pass by red buoy 36, mile 0 of the ICW. You would think there would be a sign saying that! The home dock is close to mile marker 950, so you can see we have come a long way.
Mile 0 of the ICW
Back to Port
We had our anchor set in the Kiptopeke State Park anchorage area by 1100. This anchorage is one of the most unique we have visited. KSP is the only state park located on Virginia's eastern shore. The land was originally the site of the terminus of the ferry which provided service from 1950 - 1964 connecting Virginia's eastern shore to Norfolk before the construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The terminus needed a breakwater to help ensure safe ferry landings in poor weather. So, the Virginia Ferry Corporation purchased nine surplus WWII concrete Liberty ships. They were sunk, filled with sand and water and lined up in a 1500' long row. The breakwater did its job; the ferry service provided up to 90 trips/day at its peak.
Unique Breakwater
Liberty Ship Construction
When the new bridge forced the ferry service to shut down, the 540 acre site was purchased by the State of Virginia for a park. The name Kiptopeke means "Big Water", which is what the ferry had to cross each day. Now the site has multiple uses for people to enjoy. The old terminal platform is a huge fishing pier complete with dual boat launch ramps. There is a swimming beach, 4 miles of hiking trails, bird banding site (thousands of migratory birds stop in the fall and spring), hawk and raptor observation station, butterfly garden, and campground. The old breakwater provides an excellent fish habitat for sport fishermen to enjoy trying their luck. After lunch we launched FIN so we could go ashore to check out the land facilities and get some walking exercise.
Kiptopeke Boardwalkers
FLUKE, Breakwater, Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
We anchored here with the intent of exiting out of the south end of Chesapeake Bay and making an 18 hr. Atlantic Ocean run up the eastern coast of Virginia to Cape Henlopen where we would stage ourselves to cross the Delaware River to go up the coast of New Jersey. A late afternoon weather forecast indicated that sea conditions didn't look favorable in 3 days when we would be out to sea, and we didn't want to be stuck just sitting at Cape Henlopen, so we have changed our plans and will head up inside Chesapeake Bay. Such flexibility will keep our tummies happier.
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