h mile 50- mile 1.5
Our destination was Portsmouth. The wind would be favorable for a sail across the Chesapeake tomorrow morning. We got in touch with Bruce, who lives in Portsmouth and made a plan to go to dinner if we got there in time.
It was a 50 mile trip and there were several obstacles along the way. There were four opening bridges and the Great Bridge Lock which was timed with the Battlefield Blvd. Bridge. The final bridge, the Gilmerton Bridge, would not open from 3:30-5:30 because of rush hour so our goal was to make it through that before 3:30.
We left Coinjock at 6:00. It was light but the sun had not risen. We planned to push our stern into the current but our bow caught it first and we headed out in the wrong direction but safely avoided any boats. It was easy to make the turn.
We passed through the North Landing river into the Currituck Sound which is very shallow overall with a narrow deep channel. Motor boats passed us from behind and we met a barge coming the other way.
We then headed in to the canal that leads to the Elizabeth River. The Centerville Bridge opened late and we were all waiting. This was critical because we had 30 minutes to make the 3 miles to the bridge/lock combo or we would be waiting another hour. We decided to move along as fast as we could, hoping that the line of boats would help buy us some time at the other end.
This paid off and we made the 12:00 openings. We got into the lock on the bumpered side. This side filled. Locking was easy the fourth time.
The Elizabeth River was busy with commercial traffic as usual. We had a short thunderstorm and the skies looked dark all around us.
We made it to the Gilmerton Bridge around 130. We requested an opening. A car had broken down before the bridge and the tender had to confirm that the tow truck was outside the gates. Once this was confirmed, she opened.
We found our marina, Ocean Yacht Marina without difficulty. The slips are nice there with floating docks and full length finger piers. The fairways are wide in case you have to turn around. We docked easily. The marina would be a great place to hear a concert at the amphitheater. We tidied up the boat and let Bruce know we had arrived. He planned to pick us up at 5 for dinner.
Bruce took us to his marina, Tidewater Marina, which is also in Portsmouth right near Hospital Point. He gave us a short tour of High Street first. The marina has a restaurant called Fish & Slips. It is an upstairs restaurant with a great view of the harbor. The food was really good. David and I were happy to know about this place.
From the restaurant, we could see Navy ships being overhauled. Bruce used to work at two of the companies across the channel that do this work. After they worked on a ship, Bruce got to accompany them on a test run. He was familiar with many of the ships in the harbor.
We walked around Portsmouth after dinner. People were fishing on the boardwalk. We also saw a Fresnel lens from a lighthouse that used to be on Hog Island. It is displayed on the waterfront.
We saw S/V Osprey coming in to the free docks where you can stay for 24 hours if there is an opening. We went over to see if we could help. We had not met the owners but knew of them through Eleanor. They are a young couple with a dog.
They were quite exhausted. They had left Coinjock in the morning a little later than we did. The lock closed for thunderstorms as they were getting there. They had to wait several hours there. They had to wait at the Gilmerton due to rush hour restrictions and then a train came, closing the railroad bridge which is almost always open. It was around 7:30 and they were finally getting in. We were so lucky to get through without complication.
Tomorrow looks good for sailing to Cape Charles.
