After getting back to the marina, we got everything unloaded and put away. Then I had to continue working on getting a new boat insurance policy. I've been insured by the same company since I bought the boat, but now that I have to move it through Southern waters in hurricane season, they refused to cover me. Fortunately. I have a great agent who jumped right on the problem and got me new coverage. Amy, at Herrington Harbour South, printed emails for me, scanned forms and emailed the completed ones for me to make all of this work. Don't know what I would have done without her!!
Thursday was training day for Rob and a chance for me to run the boat for the first time in a long time. Tom, Fred and another Jim joined us for the trip as coaches. Fred showed me how to do things with my chart plotter that I had never figured out. Rob got coaching from everyone on docking, un-docking and fueling. We did side ties and backed into a slip just for practice. The best part was the run across the Chesapeake Bay to Tilghman Island for lunch at The Bridge/Characters. I'm sure Rob was on overload by the time we got back into our slip at the end of the day!
Very early Friday morning, we got up and got moving. It was 6:37 AM when we pulled out of the slip. We had a couple of interesting moments as we were leaving. First, the engine sync switch had gotten clicked off so the port engine didn't have the right rpm. Figured that out and then pushed up the power, but maxed at 2000 rpm?? The switch right beside the sync had also been bumped and that one limits rpm. OK - figured out both and we're off - well not quite. Fred had set a series of way points in the plotter to take us to Norfolk in the most direct path, So who would have guessed that the first point outside the marina would be #2?? We got passed the first buoy heading south, I pick what I think is the second way point and we immediately go into a 180 degree turn!! After selecting point #3, we continued in the right direction after doing a 360 degree high speed circle. Wheeeeeee!!!
It was a hot, calm day. We ran down the bay almost alone at around 17 mph. When we reached the north side of Norfolk, there were radio calls from US Navy Warship 51 to various vessels. That ship was coming into the harbor just ahead of us. I found another Navy ship on AIS we started watching all of the to get him docked activity. All of this was pretty interesting, except this big boy was taking his half out of the middle of the waterway and I'm supposed to stay away from him. We get all the way over next to the red buoys and slowing moving past. All the while, the guns crews on the Navy ship are watching us like there is a rouge Army guy on board (who was wearing a West Point hat)!! We were lucky to survive that encounter.
The rest of the ride down the channel was basically uneventful until we reached the first ICW bridge. This one is a railroad lift bridge with a clearance of 6 feet above the water. Now it's supposed to be open, but it's not. I can squeeze under a 15 foot high bridge so there's no way we're going here. I call the phone number and ask about when the span will open. The RR guy on the phone says "I hate to tell you this but it's broken and will not open until 7 AM Monday morning". Days 2 and 3 are going to be spent here waiting for a bridge repair. At least, Norfolk has a lot of things to do until the adventure continues.
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