Norfolk

We divided the trip from Annapolis to Norfolk into three days. We sailed during the day, and anchoring at night. We were in no rush and the Chesapeake has plenty of rivers and creeks to anchor in.

On Sunday, the remnants a tropical storm was in the area. The forecast called for rain and winds up to 30 knots. We debated about spending an extra day at anchor, but the forecast wasn’t that bad, so we headed out.

The winds were stronger than predicted and it was a heavy blowing rain. I do have a Bimini covering the cockpit, but the wind was blowing the rain in and soaking us. The rain got bad enough that it started interfering with the touch screen on the chart plotter. Near the end of the day, the chart plotter became useless.

Even with good rain gear, on days like that you’re going to be wet and cold. I was very happy to finally pull into the creek, drop the anchor, and put on some dry clothes.

Monday started out perfect. A nice down wind sail. We were in a pack of 6 boats all heading to Norfolk. By afternoon, the winds lightened up and we had to motor sail the rest of the way.

We finally made it to Rebel Marina in Willoughby Bay, on the north side of Norfolk. You can see our location here. We are across the bay from the Navy base, the largest in the world. Currently, there are 3 aircraft carriers in port.

There’s also an airfield on the base and the helicopters are coming and going right over the boat all day long.

We’re planning on staying at least a week here. Then we’ll be heading down the ICW and going through the Dismal Swamp.