Thursday, October 22, 2015
We pulled away from the marina this morning in the dark, around 0600, to make one of the three daily scheduled openings of the Beltline Railroad Bridge. More about that in a moment!
Coming through Norfolk is interesting, with all its huge naval ships, and some other ships as well. This was the first time I've managed this stretch of water that it was calm, which made it all the more enjoyable.
By 0815, we were maneuvering to be first through the bridge, though I am told there were a total of 70 boats in line to make the 0900 opening. We were not concerned with the height of the Gilmerton Bridge, which waited until all the sailboats were lined up to open.
We went on the ICW route, past the turn off to the Dismal Swamp, in order to take on fuel at Top Rack Marina, which had diesel for $1.92/gal including tax! By the time we were done fueling, half a dozen of the vessels that had been behind us were lined up waiting for dockspace at Top Rack.
When we finished taking on fuel, we tracked back about a mile to take the Dismal Swamp route. Ellen was disappointed in the rainy weather we had had on our previous transit, and wanted to do it in good weather.
There were so many vessels lined up for the southbound lock that they made two lock openings for "1100." We were 7th in line for the second lock. The first lock of boats was released into the area between the lock and a bridge, and had to wait until the second lock of boats were through before the single lock master/bridge tender finished one job so he could do the next.
That put 20 vessels in a line, and we were about #17. Ten of those boats were traveling together with "Sail to the Sun," a guided group trip down the ICW to Miami.
The Dismal Swamp is a beautiful place, with a lot of interesting history. I've wrote some about it before, so won't repeat it again. The water levels were high, and the trees had been cleaned up pretty good since the blow. It was a little irritating that I was behind an underpowered catamaran sailboat, driven by an outboard, that constantly changed speed, and eventually turned off at the Douglas Road dock, where we had talked about stopping. It didn't surprise me that he went to the middle of the dock, since he was the sort of guy who had ignored all the lock masters instructions as well. I gritted my teeth and kept going.
Next, we planned to stop at the Visitor's Center where the raft ups are always fun, but changed our mind before we got there, due to the abundance of boats. I got the boats waiting to raft up to move over a little, and wiggled around them and through the pedestrian swing bridge, hoping against hope the bridge tender would open the bridge allowing us to dock between the bridge and the lock, in South Mills. He did! Which is thanks in a large part to Jeff, on the trawler, Adirondack, who I'd talked to on the VHF earlier in the day, but, had never met. When the bridge tender asked if he needed an opening, said that he was waiting for me!
The bridge tender opened the bridge when he saw me coming, and the MERCY and ADIRONDACK tied along the bulkhead at South Mills, in a nice protected area between the bridge and the lock. We were able to get off the boat, and walk around a bit, and had the opportunity to meet Jeff and Sally, who I instantly liked.
We had a gorgeous evening, nice weather, and even had television from Norfolk still, with our little window antenna. What a nice place.
