Bellhaven to Norfolk - Loop Trip Days 154 - 160

The trip to Bellhaven started off as just a usual day. We planned an early start because the winds on the Neuse River were forecast to be under 10 mph until well past noon. It only took about half an hour before it began looking like that was wrong. The waves began getting bigger and spray was going onto the boat. These kept increasing until as we approached the turn near the mouth of the river, we had started to see four foot seas. This was easily the worst conditions that we have had since the trip from Slidell when we bought the boat. The conditions were getting worse and one of our bicycles was even starting to slide under the forward rail. Finally, the turn point came and this put the wind and waves on our stern which made a huge improvement! This lasted for about an hour as we made our way through several creeks connecting the Neuse River to the Pamlico River. As soon as we reached the Pamilco, the conditions returned to roughly what they had been before the creeks. Waves might not have been as big, but the wind had increased and we were now getting heavy water over the top of the boat. That half hour took forever until we reached the Pungo River that led us to Bellhaven. Waves were white capping outside the marina and getting into the desired slip proved impossible. We ended up on a T-head at the end of a dock, nose into the wind and all our fenders out with the decision made to stay here an extra day as the forecasts have been revised to show 30 to 45 mph winds coming tomorrow. We took a golf cart downtown to what is probably the best restaurant in town, Spoon River. It is also the only restaurant open today so we are very lucky. Dinner was great, we saw another looper couple we met in Beaufort and sat to talk for a bit. While doing that, Ann, the owner came by to offer us a complimentary glass of wine and thank us all for coming in! Not your ordinary place. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1019685

River Forest before the storm

Spoon River dining room

Ann the owner

Tuesday was absolutely the pits! Winds had not been bad overnight, but around 10 AM it all broke loose. Rain was pouring down and the winds were reported at 40 mph. This continued until about 2 PM when suddenly it all calmed. It seemed as though we had gotten through the blow pretty much unscathed, but as it turned out it wasn't done yet. About 4 PM, wind began to pick up again and shortly it got much worse than earlier. The River Forest Marina guys came out to help adjust fenders and even add an additional one, but the 55 mph winds had driven us into the pilings with such force the rub rail at that area got crushed. By a little after 4 PM, the storm has begun to ease up and the forecast that called for the storm passing was actually right. The rest of the evening was fortunately calm after the constant rocking all day.

River Forest during the storm

Wednesday turned out to be as hoped, sunny, warmer and light wind. First thing to do before leaving is to get fuel and pump out the holding tank. Another boat was already at the pumps so we had to wait a bit, but got everything done and were away by about 8:45. The first part of the trip was on the Pungo River which is wide, but wind is behind us so the ride was smooth. The longest section today was the Pungo River - Alligator River Canal. This man made channel was the last section of the ICW, completed in 1929, connecting the northern and southern sections as well as giving Bellhaven the title "Home of the ICW". We reached the Alligator River at about 11:15 and continued on toward the Alligator River Swing Bridge. We had to wait here for about 15 minutes for a sailboat to catch up before the bridge would open. The best part was the destination was just a left turn after passing the span and straight into their harbor. Alligator River Marina is a very small location, but well protected and a good location to stage from for crossing the Albemarle Sound. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1020599

Alligator River Marina

Nice sunset today

Thursday morning was somewhat grey, but not raining and winds were light. We left about 8 AM for the roughly 16 mile Sound crossing. This is one of those areas that can be extremely rough, but today it is almost "water ski" calm. Not wanting to waste any time or give the weather a chance to change, we got this done in about an hour. After the Sound is the North River which leads on through a large marsh area to the Coinjock canal. This is another man made cut connecting bodies of water. Coinjock Marina is our stop making this a short day, but we are looking forward to dinner at their restaurant where prime rib is the specialty. As soon as we were tied up, it was time to make the dinner reservation and also reserve our Mate's Cuts! It was a nice, sunny afternoon so we sat in the cockpit and watched all the other boats arrive until it was time to go. Dinner was great and the room filled quickly with the people we had watched earlier. The portions were huge so we have leftovers to take back! It wasn't dark yet so we walked down the dock to look at all the boats that had come in. The most impressive was an 84 foot Trumpy built in 1963 - beautiful!! Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1021399

Sunrise on the Alligator River

Not quite sure what these guys are

The line of boats at Coinjock Marina

The Mate's Cut prime rib dinner

1963 Trumpy

Friday we are on a mission to get to Atlantic Yacht Basin. I had called them about possibly repairing the rub rail that got damaged in the storm and look for our occasional leak which appears in the master stateroom. Forecast has called for light wind and calm water, but maybe a few showers. All of that was correct and even a few areas of bright sunshine were an added bonus. The route takes us up the North Landing River from its mouth at a large bay along the Outer Banks following it north toward its source. This was a nice ride through mostly unpopulated areas until reaching the Albemarle Chesapeake Canal. In this area, we had 2 swing bridges to pass through and we caught up with three other boats including the Trumpy. Just a couple of miles past the last bridge was the marina. They sent us to an inlet that led around to the back of the facility and put us in an old covered shed slip that was about 80’ long and 16’ wide. Not many boats fit that description these days! It took a while, but the service manager came by to take a look to see what could be done. Seems that the rub rail will take a week just to arrive before they could start working so now I have to figure out some other way to get this done. Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1025642

In the "barn" at Atlantic Yacht Basin

They have all sorts of interesting things here

Even though repairs can’t be done here, we got word that there was to be a looper gathering on Saturday. Ed, the editor of The Waterway Guide brought his 1947 Trumpy to the marina and was one of the sponsors. I started the day doing some cleaning and working on an order for new windshield wipers before heading over to the marina office to pay for our slip. When I arrived, Ron, who we had not seen since Tarpon Springs, was there checking in! He and Karen had also come for today’s event. My next surprise came when the dock master said there would be no slip charge since they were unable to do the work that I needed! We headed down to the party at about 2. A large group was already there and we met new people as well as reconnecting with those we hadn’t seen in a while. There was food, drinks, a little duo playing music and they were doing a raffle. While waiting on the drawing, we went aboard the Trumpy. I’ve been intrigued by these historic boats and now had the opportunity to actually see one up close. It was so cool to see what a beautifully cared for 70 year old vessel looked like - really cool. The time came for the raffle drawing and they called Regina’s name! We won a set of brand new Waterway Guide books. The ones I had been using were three years old so this is great! We spent the rest of the afternoon on Ron and Karen’s boat catching up and visiting with new people. Tomorrow we will leave for Norfolk to spend a few days there. 

1947 Trumpy

Helm

Stair down to staterooms

Engine room

Private concert on the Trumpy

Ed the Waterway Guide editor with Regina

Great Bridge sunset

Sunday morning was cold and this is another front passing with winds in the 15 to 20 mph range. First order of business is to get around to the front of the Marina and top off the fuel. After that was completed, we had to kill a few minutes waiting on the draw bridge's next scheduled opening. I noticed a line of boats coming up the waterway to stage for the hourly event. We got off the dock to get into place before ending up in the rear. Right after the bridge is Great Bridge Lock, last time we came through here you couldn't even detect a change in water level, but today there was about 2 feet of rise. It's only about 10 miles on to Norfolk and the marina. The gang in the lock must have been told there was free money or something ahead. It looked like a Grand Prix start for this group as soon as the lock opened! We got past a couple of really slow boats and let the racers go on ahead. The scenery becomes very industrial as we approach the City and the shipyards. There are all sorts of commercial freighters, but the Naval vessels are the most interesting (see the pictures on the track). There is an aircraft carrier that must be getting ready to go somewhere. It's behind some kind of barrier and a security boat on patrol is right there. The downtown area is just past here with Norfolk on one side of the Elisabeth River and Portsmouth on the other. We got to Tidewater Yacht Marina before noon, but had to circle around in the harbor waiting until some of those racers got into slips. Our assigned slip was in a very good location, well protected and not far from the office and restaurant. They informed us that, Dockwa, the app I use to book slip reservations, will host a reception this afternoon at that restaurant! Timing is everything!  Track and photos - www.ramblr.com/web/mymap/trip/273527/1025615

Ready to go the the Dockwa reception

Tidewater Yacht Marina

Tucked in our slip

Virginia sunset