We’re up early with coffee and a breakfast bar to start the day. We get underway at 0620 hoping to make all the bridges before the late afternoon opening restrictions. Unfortunately, all the fast powerboats had the same idea. A few got going before us, but we had to put up with all the others passing/waking us the rest of the day.
The overcast skies gave way to partly sunny and then sunny as we got into Virginia waters. We arrived at the North Landing Bridge a few minutes early and had to jockey about. Once we cleared the bridge, the race was on to make the rest of the scheduled openings at Centerville, Great Bridge, the lock, Steel Bridge and Gilmerton.
At the lock we were the last boat in and were forced to take a port side tie up. There were no line handlers to help and we struggled to get lines on the cleats. Being the last boat out of the lock, we kept the RPMs up as we raced to make the Steel Bridge opening.
After clearing Steel Bridge we ran into a show stopper at the #7 railroad bridge adjacent to the Gilmerton. The normally open RR bridge was down and they were doing maintenance. Ten boats jockeyed about for over thirty minutes before maintenance crews announced they would open. We cleared the RR and Gilmerton and continued on.
The skyline had changed only a little. The one glaring difference was the absence of the old Jordan Bridge. It wasn’t totally gone, but the span, counterweights, and half of one tower were gone. In fact, welder/burners were cutting away on one tower as we passed by.
When we reached our dock, the transmission refused to shift out of reverse and we crashed the dock stern first. We were going slow and suffered no damage except to my pride. We traveled 2000+ miles, made dozens of successful dockings or mooring approaches and then we hit the dock arriving at home. Audience…you betcha!!! The whole world will know and remember not our cruising accomplishments, just our arrival home! Sheez!
Regardless, We’re HOME!
Location: PYC Dock/Home - Portsmouth, VA - MM 0
Distance Traveled: 50 mi
Total Boat mileage on return trip: 1058 statute miles
May 13, 2010 - Day 28
The predicted seas for the Albemarle was 1-2 feet with winds of 10-15 from the NE. Not a great forecast, but we decided to attempt a crossing of the infamous Albemarle Sound. Sometimes I think I’d like to take those NOAA weather guessers out to experience their predictions. We successfully negotiated the nasty shoals just north of the Alligator River Bridge and then began experiencing winds of 20 with higher gusts. Waves ran 3-4’ (seemed like mostly 4’) with a short period between making it a bone jarring, very rough and slow crossing. Donna stayed in the cockpit as conditions below were intolerable. Buddy took refuge in his cubby hole under the dinette next to the hull. Being at the center of the boat, he got lots of rocking action but wasn’t tossed about so much. Surprisingly, he did not get seasick today.
Conditions did not get much better until we reached the upper portions of the North River. The sky remained overcast and the temperature cool all day. It took a sweatshirt and my heavier foul weather gear to stay comfortable against the wind and spray. We heard several boats calling Sea Tow and Towboat/US for assistance during the day. Rough conditions seem to always increase the occurances of equipment failures.
When we reached the anchorage area at Buck Island, we decided to continue on to Midway Marina at Coinjock, NC. Doing so would put us about an hour and a half of travel time closer for tomorrows run home. Considering the number of restricted bridges and the lock to be timed, we needed that advantage.
We arrived at Midway Marina about 1600 and got a tie -up on the face dock. After straightening up the interior of the boat, we proceeded to the showers for a cleanup before dinner.
We went next door to Crabbie’s Restaurant for dinner. The service left something to be desired, but our NC BBQ dinners were delicious and plentiful. Back at the boat, we watched a little TV before we both fell asleep. What a day!
Location: Midway Marina, Coinjock, NC - MM 50
Distance Traveled: 34 mi
Conditions did not get much better until we reached the upper portions of the North River. The sky remained overcast and the temperature cool all day. It took a sweatshirt and my heavier foul weather gear to stay comfortable against the wind and spray. We heard several boats calling Sea Tow and Towboat/US for assistance during the day. Rough conditions seem to always increase the occurances of equipment failures.
When we reached the anchorage area at Buck Island, we decided to continue on to Midway Marina at Coinjock, NC. Doing so would put us about an hour and a half of travel time closer for tomorrows run home. Considering the number of restricted bridges and the lock to be timed, we needed that advantage.
We arrived at Midway Marina about 1600 and got a tie -up on the face dock. After straightening up the interior of the boat, we proceeded to the showers for a cleanup before dinner.
We went next door to Crabbie’s Restaurant for dinner. The service left something to be desired, but our NC BBQ dinners were delicious and plentiful. Back at the boat, we watched a little TV before we both fell asleep. What a day!
Location: Midway Marina, Coinjock, NC - MM 50
Distance Traveled: 34 mi
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