Baltimore - Solomons Island - Norfolk

Zanabe

This morning dawned sunny and calm although chilly.  There was a lot of debris coming into the marina due to the high winds of the last couple of days.  Leaving just before us was the boat that had been docked ahead of us, also waiting out the hurricane,  “Zanabe” a 24 metre sailboat.  This was a gorgeous boat, immaculate.

The Constitution

As we left harbour, The Constitution was sailing out, a lovely sight in full sail.

There was also a container ship entering with 2 tugs assisting. These are really, really big ships!!

Chesapeake Bay Bridge

The trip down the Chesapeake was uneventful.  We passed under the Chesepeake Bay Bridge and kept going south.

HMCS Shawinigan

We did pass the Canadian vessel  HMCS Shawinigan a coastal patrol vessel heading north. 

Solomons Island

We ended the day at Solomons Island.

Lighthouse entrance to Norfolk

The following morning we were up bright and early as we wanted to make Norfolk at a decent time.  There was a complete parade of sailboats that left the same time as us.  They appeared to have a great day for a sail, although unlikely that they would make Norfolk. 

Naval shipyards

Naval shipyards

Approaching the marina in Portsmouth (across the river from Norfolk) you pass by many of the ships from the US Navy.

Aircraft Carriers, missile ships, landing vessels,etc.  The interesting point is that there are booms across the complete area to keep other boats out.  They move them when one of the the Navy ships want to leave.

The marina where we stayed had minimal damage from Matthew including that the pump-out was not operational.

Wednesday: Solomons to Norfolk