hampton some more, norfolk and hampton again.

because we had to be back in hampton for the start of the SAIL rally, the original plan was to go somewhere else we hadn't been and to do a little exploring., but with the high winds we had been having, it just never happened and we wound up leaving the hampton public piers and anchoring right in the river instead.  which was kind of anticlimactic really - so much for "heading south for real."  tom and i chomped at the bit to be going "somewhere" but at the same time, since we were just "sitting," we both got quite a bit done.  and it was easier to take consuelo ashore to the dinghy dock and to mill point park close by anyway.  we did a little grocery and hardware store shopping, too, but nothing very exciting and new.  we watched boats come in and go out and we explored the hampton river by dinghy.  on the second day at anchor, it rained and was cold and miserable and depressing but the subsequent days, except for the wind, were bright and sunny.

on sunday, october 26, 2014, we picked up our anchor from the sticky and stinky mud of hampton river, pulled into the hampton public piers for a pump-out and a bit of a wash and then pulled out into hampton roads towards norfolk.   the first (and only) time i did the ICW was in 1992, from D.C. to charleston (boat broke down on the way to miami so i took the train home - i had been gone for three weeks) on a 43' endeavor.  at the time, we entered hampton roads at dawn and i was amazed and awestruck - it was like a naval ship and submarine parking lot!  not to mention the enormous cargo ships that were going in and out or on moorings.  i felt very small and insignificant then - i thought our 43-footer was a BIG boat!  this time, i am still in awe.  there is a difference between ships and boats and these guys are SHIPS.  i honestly don't think that it will ever get old for me to go by these monsters on the waterway.

hospital ship

amphibious transporter

NOAA catamaran

the wisconsin's big guns

one of the many tugboats

dry dock

eisenhower aircraft carrier. if you look closely, there is a guy with a gun on the bow.

a "dormitory" barge (temporary housing for those working on the ship)

transformers!  (no, they are cranes)

our friend, norman, came out on his dinghy to meet us when we got into the lafayette river.  i first met norman and betsy in 2003.  at the time, they had a parker and their rosborough was on order.  i had come from a parker and my rosborough was brand new and i was just getting into the cruising thing.  they eventually sold their boat and got a monk 36 and in 2009, tom and i moved  into TADHANA so we've sort of paralleled in that aspect.  in any case, we have become good friends and make every effort to encounter each other on the water (and off) whenever feasible.  it is always enjoyable and informative.

sunrise at lafayette river anchorage

we anchored off of the norfolk yacht club on the lafayette river.  our friends live walking distance from it and so we wandered over (with my bedsheets to launder) and spent the afternoon and evening at their home getting caught up.  we even got to watch the ISS go by that evening from their backyard.  the next day, norman took us for a tour of the norfolk/portsmouth harbors on their boat, PEGGY SUE.  the weather was outstanding and just perfect  for it and we had a lovely time.  we couldn't have had a better tour guide - norman is a history buff, as well as a very knowledgable cruiser, and, let's face it - for some of us, there simply is never enough time spent on a boat!  that evening, we dinghied over to PEGGY SUE at the yacht club and together with norman and betsy, watched both the sunset and the ISS go by again.  there was supposed to be a rocket launch from the wallops island flight facility visible through a good part of the east coast but that got scrubbed and rescheduled for the next day.

cranes in the sunset

sundowners on PEGGY sue at the norfolk yacht club

in the morning, we picked up our (again) muddy anchor and headed back to the hampton public piers.  on the way, we heard a conversation on the radio between a little sailboat and an enormous cargo ship.  first of all, in my opinion, the rule of thumb is that if he is bigger than you, you need to stay out of his way, i.e. DON'T be in the middle of the channel!  in any case, what i picked up on was that whoever was on the sailboat was still having a problem with the difference between port and starboard so there was a lot of back and forthing between the two about who was going to pass where even though it was pretty clear (at least to me) from the first statement made by the ship.  but the sailboat guy was a bit chatty so he said he was going down the ICW and asked the ship where it was going.  the answer was "out to sea."  well, a little later, it was clear that the sailboat guy didn't know which direction was "out to sea" and also clear that he didn't know which end of the ship was the bow and which was the stern or whether it was going forwards or backwards!  tom and i were like.....  OH. MY. GOD.   we are now wondering how much of this we are going to encounter on our journey south. one of those "sad and entertaining" things, i guess.  THEY are out there, people - BEWARE! 

we pulled into the same slip at the hampton public piers that we had occupied for the snowbird rendezvous.  wow, it was like going home!  as usual, my priority was to get us cleaned up but tom immediately got snagged by someone with an engine problem (i can just see how this trip is going to go).  i blame it all on that woman at the sailboat show seminar who introduced tom as the "chief mechanic" for this gig.  i really cringed when she said that....  umm excuse me???  on the other hand, she was young and not hard to look at.  in any case, as soon as i saw the men gathering on the dock, i decided that it was pointless waiting for tom and brought out the hose myself.