Finishing the Loop #6 - Virginia

Friday 3^rd May (continued)

We reached the Nth River bridge at 2pm and, as promised, it was manually cranked open for us. However there was also a Tow in front of us, heading the same way we were and slowing us down considerably. 

We had several more bridges to clear, and 1 lock, with no room to pass before the lock. So our skipper arranged with the tug captain that we would pass him at the lock and enter it first – after telling him of our saga of the day before and that we had passengers to meet in Norfolk. He was quite OK with that, but the Lockmaster was not. He considered that HE was the one to make that decision and insisted that the tug go first. There was a heated exchange between him and our Captain, resulting in some name calling and our captain hanging up on the Lockmaster. So the tug went into the lock chamber first and, although there was enough room for us as well, the Lockmaster made us standby while he locked the tug down the 3 (yes three) feet to the Chesapeake Bay, and it was the slowest lock lowering I have ever witnessed. Once the tug cleared the chamber, the lock gates remained open for another 10 minutes then after closing, the lock remained at the lower level for another 15. Finally the lock crew came out of their building where it appeared they had been having an afternoon break and slowly filled the lock back to our level – about another 10 minutes. The gates were opened and we entered and tied up, but the gates (which are usually closed as soon as you enter the lock) remained open. We waited another 10 minutes or so, then  the Lockmaster got a call from a couple of recreational vessels (probably Loopers) asking for a lock down, so he said he would keep the gates open until they got there to lock down with us – so that took another 20 minutes. Finally we were lowered the 3 feet to the Chesapeake water level and wished a “safe journey” by the Lockmaster as we left. Before we departed on our Great Loop back in 2013, a Michigan boatie had warned us about offending Lockmasters, or Tow captains that probably had friends or family that were Lockmasters, as you could be subjected to “delays” as you reached the locks. There was a term for it, and I’m pretty sure that is what we were subjected to because of our Captain’s personality clash with the xxxxx Lockmaster. We were well and truly Lock-f**ked and had an unnecessary hour added to our already long day.

And the tug goes in

and so do we (30 minutes later) - but lets keep the gates open for a while

Here come some more boats - lets keep the gates open a bit longer!

Everyone's in and the gates are finally closed

The Lousy Lockmaster - We were glad to see the back end of him, too!!!

To add insult to injury, the last bridge before Norfolk was a lift bridge and lifted only at certain times in rush-hour traffic. We arrived at 5pm and had to wait for it to be lifted at 5.30. If we hadn’t been delayed at the lock we would have made the 4.30 opening. By the time we got to the marina at Norfolk at 6pm, the passengers that had gone on the Yorktown tour had been waiting over an hour for us and had missed happy hour too! But we had a good fun day, the 7 of us that remained aboard.

Waiting again

Past the last hurdle

At dinner they announced the new plan (I cautioned earlier about the best laid plans), which was the tour of Norfolk tomorrow would not include the Naval Base, and that we would be sailing from Norfolk at 3pm, directly to Baltimore and skipping Yorktown and Annapolis. Missing the other 2 ports was not an issue – we were still cruising Chesapeake Bay and that is what this trip was all about – but I only wanted to see the Naval  Base at Norfolk, not the rest of the tour, so I cancelled. Apparently we sail right past the Base tomorrow, so will see plenty of ships, anyway.

Saturday 4^th May – Norfolk

Waterside marina at Norfolk  had not only us, but a lot of Loopers, and they kept arriving as the day progressed. Considering the number of marinas around, plus plenty of sheltered anchorages, there must be a lot of Loopers hitting this area right now. We got underway at 3pm and, as promised, passed lots and lots and lots of warships on the way down the Elizabeth river and into the Chesapeake Bay. Here are a few of them, but there were squillions more (no aircraft carriers though - they are all away)

 We are now cruising up the Chesapeake heading the 150-odd miles to Baltimore. It is cocktail hour and we are sitting watching the prelude to the Kentucky Derby - run in about 20 minutes. There are mint Juleps on the Bar, a sweep at $2 per bet, and a silly hat competition

The race is about to start so I'm going to (try to) post this. I'll let you know if we win anything!