Well there we were at the Great Bridge lock...ignore the date since it comes from a previous trip...but we passed it again today and it's clear where we are/were! It was a little warmer the last time, but we are doing well with an enclose cockpit and a generator to run our heaters at night. The bulkhead here at Great Bridge is full...about seven boats of various sizes. Just before the Dominion Bridge where we were held up for a half hour waiting for the bridge to open, we were hailed by the captain of a trawler who was at the lead of our convoy of three boats...the trawler, a sailboat from Newport, RI and us. It turned out to be Woody Sherrod, who installed a new refrigerator on our boat a month ago. Woody is on his way South on his new trawler, Marisol and recognized my voice on the VHF hailing a bridge tender. Marisol and Windreka are tucked up against the Great Bridge bulkhead and we will be on our way tomorrow morning...perhaps on the same general schedule, or perhaps not. That's a big part of the pleasure of being an active member of the cruising community. Today we spoke with Cathy and Pete Geiss who were in Solomons Island. They left just ahead of us...ran into some unanticipated problems...returned to the dock...and are now on their way south just behind us. Our host, Pat Drenning will also leave Annapolis in the morning after an unanticipated delay. Pat will be heading south behind Cathy and Pete and who knows where we will meet along the way. A few minutes ago as I was writing the post, I got a call from David and Hallie Groves who are in Wrightsville Beach, NC. They left about a week ahead of us and are on an extended cruise. Being a member of the cruising community is a unique and special experience.
The US Navy at Norfolk
Today, after refilling water and fuel tanks, we left the Bluewater Yacht Center at Hampton, VA at 1000 and had an enjoyable run across Hampton Shoal over the same water that witnessed the historic Civil War naval battle between the first 
two ironclads...the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia/Merrimack. This is the battle that ended the era of wooden warships. We motored past the US Navy ships at Norfolk and on down into the Elizabeth River to Mile 0 of the ICW. Todays leg ended just after we were locked through the Great Bridge lock which raised us up 2-3 feet to make up for the difference between Chesapeake Bay and its North Carolina counterparts...Currituck Sound and Albemarle Sound. The photo at the left is the Great Bridge Lock Pumphouse on the North side of the lock. We were tied up on the South side.
If there is a downside to the trip, it's waking up and having to pull ourselves out of a warm bed to wake up a cool boat and get everything running again. But once up and the sun comes shining through, we are energized and ready to see what's around the next bend of the ICW and we enjoy telling you all about it. We don't have a routine yet, but are working on it. For now, it's enough to plan to be 30-50 miles further south each day and we decide on where we'll spend the night some time around noon when we see how much progress we've made in the morning. Tomorrow we'll be in North Carolina...maybe Coinjock or further...tune in to see or maybe Sarah will call to tell you.
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