Meandering Magees: Into The Chesapeake Bay

Saturday, May 26, 2018
Day 419
5,071 miles

Before we left on our Great Loop back in the fall of 2016, there were several places we knew we wanted to spend time in and were excited about getting there. From the beginning, the Chesapeake Bay area was one of them. And we made it!

Coinjock was our last stop in North Carolina. On Wednesday we traveled the last 49 miles of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to Norfolk, Virginia. The AICW heading north ends in Norfolk. We had a love/hate relationship with the waterway. It provided us with interesting and sometimes scenic views and it allowed us to travel in windy conditions when we couldn't run in the ocean. But it was also filled with no wake zones where we were barely in gear, and was stressful for Mike navigating and Greg driving due to shoaling, shallow water, and bridge opening schedules.

South of Norfolk we entered the Great Bridge Lock. It was our first Army Corp of Engineers lock since the Coffeeville Lock in Alabama

Approaching Norfolk, the waterway became very industrial

And then the Navy presence became obvious.

The Norfolk Navy Shipyard was established in 1767.

This is the USS Eisenhower - Ike

This vessel was raised out of the water for repairs.

We stayed one night at Waterside Marina in downtown Norfolk, which included several firsts for us.

First time to be docked next to a ferris wheel.

First time to watch a local 5k run as the participants went right past True North.

It was also the first time we had alerts on the radio to keep our distance from a submarine entering the Norfolk harbor. That reminded me of an incident I forgot to mention in my Southport, NC post.

On March 12, 1942, the tanker S.S. John D. Gill was torpedoed and sunk off the entrance to Cape Fear by a the German submarine U-158. The people of Southport cared for the survivors. Amazing that the Germans got that close.

We were too late to tour the Hampton Roads Naval Museum right next to our marina, but we were able to see the outside of the USS Wisconsin battleship which is attached to the museum by a walkway.

Karen took this interesting shot of the front of the Wisconsin. It looks like she sucked in her sides for the photo!

A statue in the park next to the museum. Welcoming Navy personnel home was probably a common occurrence in Norfolk.

We know we are making progress when we can put away another chart book.

A one night stop in Deltaville, Virginia brought us to Dozier's Regatta Point Marina. Karen and I enjoyed a cool breeze on the porch of the office, siting in rocking chairs and reading. Until the noseeums forced us back to the boat - in the middle of the day!

The Chesapeake Bay is a big body of water. Often we could only see land on one side.

When we passed this marker, we crossed from Virginia into Maryland on Friday.

I chose Calvert Marina in Solomons, Maryland for a two night stay. They charge $1.00 a foot, the cheapest dockage we've had since coming down the inland rivers. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite side of Back River from Solomons Island. But . . . the marina has a courtesy car! (we didn't want to put the dinghy in the water because we had just readjusted it and tightened the straps holding it to the swim platform the day before.) The courtesy car is one we will not forget. I should have taken a picture. From the outside it was great - a Mercedes. Inside was another thing. The air conditioning didn't work and the windows didn't roll down. Only the driver side seat belt worked. There was no gas pedal - only the skinny bar that the pedal would have been attached to. But it had a full tank of gas (if the gauge was correct!) and allowed us to drive around to see the little village.

A view from our side of the river over to the village side. Notice all the sailboat masts.

The Chesapeake is a famous boating area.

Six Looper boats on our dock at Solomons.

"On Watch"

This statue is at the end of the peninsula down from our marina.

It commemorates the WWII U.S. Naval Amphibious Training Base at Solomons, Maryland. It was the first of its kind in the United States. Over 68,000 servicemen trained for amphibious landing here and they later saw action in both the European and Pacific Theaters.

The base operated from 1942-1945.