We got underway from Cobb’s Marina at 0800 as the base was
holding colors. Today’s goal was to get
clear of the busy Norfolk area which we accomplished by making a total of 48
statute miles. We had probably two hours
of delays due to bridge and lock schedules and a slow merchant ship taking up
the whole Elizabeth River channel as it turned into its mooring.
We had a bit of bouncy weather as strong winds from the
southwest riled the waters off Willoughby Spit as we made our way to the
Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, a path I traveled from my Newport News home for five
years when stationed aboard USS Preble and USS Iowa in Norfolk. We saw a guided missile destroyer and a
submarine exiting the Naval Base. There
were three armed patrol boats surrounding the sub warning all and sundry to
remain well clear. I guess everybody
figures a destroyer can handle its own exclusion area.
Eventually we entered the Elizabeth River and calmer
water. I pulled us over alongside the
memorial ship USS Wisconsin (BB-64) the sister ship of the battleship Iowa so
we could snap a few photos before moving on.
As we passed shipyard after shipyard it seemed every guided missile
destroyer and cruiser in the Atlantic Fleet was undergoing extensive
overhaul. We saw a few amphibious
warfare ships too. Navy and private
shipyard patrol craft we in evidence at each yard.
As the afternoon wore on, it became evident we were not
going to make the anchorage I had planned on; so we began looking on the laptop
on Coastal Explorer’s interface with Active Captain, a crowd-sourced data base
of nautical information. There we found
the old and defunct Pungo Ferry landing with a three year old comment about
mooring to the face pilings. Sure
enough, the pilings were there, and we pulled up and secured the boat to them. Mary likes being secured to solid objects
rather than swinging at anchor; so WE are happy. We have a front rolling through tonight with
the wind projected to switch from south to north and northwest and about a
twenty five degree cool off.
I am reminded of my presence here at Pungo in 1964 when as a
member of the Norfolk Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol I along with a number of
other teenaged cadets decided that we were going to do “JFK walk” which was fifty
miles long. We had not done the first
thing in the way of preparatory walks.
We started after dark from here in Pungo thinking we could use the
cooler air of the night to our advantage.
Dawn found us scattered along the route.
I think I got over thirty five miles, but was in bad shape limping along
and took the option to jump in the car of one of our support persons to finish.
If the weather is nasty with a lot of winds kicking up
places like Albemarle Sound, we may not make much more than 25 miles
tomorrow. It’s not like we are on a
schedule.
