Underway we got a radio call from Joe Nekola on Sea Pearl. Sea Pearl is the twin sister boat to aCappella - identical boats built together. We've known Joe for years and knew he was planning to head toward the ICW too. A half hour after the radio call, Joe email'd me a picture from his iPhone - it was our boat all alone on the Chesapeake with Joe approaching.
We caught up, shared a free dock outside Norfolk and mysteriously lost wine somewhere. We need to spend more time with Joe and Salty (the dog) - he might end up in Brunswick while we're there.
Passing through Norfolk is always interesting. There are Navy ships everywhere along with their restricted 500 yard approach distances. Patrol boats with real guns move back and forth along the water. There was a broadcast about a Navy War Ship taking off from Pier 5 immediately. Karen and I looked over and saw we were right at Pier 6. Ten seconds later, a pretty large ship pulled right in front of us. I took some video and none of the guys with machine guns on deck liked that. We were way closer than we should have been, sort of our own no fly zone.
Eventually we split from Sea Pearl (a mighty fine looking boat if I do say so) and ended up at another free dock right next to the Great Bridge lock and bridge at mile marker (MM) 12 on the ICW. There's a lot of shopping here - grocery, hardware, restaurants, Dairy Queen, everything you'd ever want. We're hanging here watching the boats come through the lock and sleeping in the warm sun. There's no problem coiling hose here.
4 comments:
Hi K & J,
Yesterday as I was anchored in Warton Creek a sailboat from MD passed by and the skipper hollered 'Are you a Snowbird?' Since I travel at 7 knots I don't feel like a bird. Maybe 'Snowfish' or something like that.
Its beautiful here in the upper Chesapeake, and much warmer than Maine, but I hesitate to try coiling hose. When I approach Norfolk, in 3 weeks or so, I'll be asking about those free docks.
Cruise On!
When do you plan to be in Charleston SC?
We plan to get to Cape Lookout and then go overnight to Charleston. I'd never pick a day because it is all dependent on weather. The weather looks bad for the rest of the week so we'll be slowly moving toward Cape Lookout.
If the seas really flatten out and we're delayed all week, we'll consider skipping Charleston and going another overnight directly to Brunswick. We have done that type of thing before.
There are no definites with this type of planning - all movements we do happen when the weather is nice. Our motto is "this is supposed to be fun". We have no deadlines and nowhere that we have to be. It's a really nice way to cruise!
We'll make it clear when we think we'll be in Charleston and our live track aleays shows our position and last tracks.
She's a Bath Iron girl"
USS WAYNE E. MEYER (DDG-108)
CLASS - BURKE Flight IIa As Built.
Displacement 8373 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 509' 5" (oa) x 66' 11" x 20' (Max)
Armament 1 x 5"/62 RF, Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), 96 VLS Cells,
2 SH-60B helicopters, 8 Harpoon Missiles, 6 x 12.75" TT.
Machinery, 100,000 SHP; 4 GE LM-2500 Gas Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 30+ Knots, Range 4400 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 370.
Operational and Building Data
Christened at Bath, Maine October 18 2008.
Commissioned October 10 2009 at Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, Pa.
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