Time to move - Norfolk to Yorktown here we come!

The pilot house

We are going stir crazy!! So we left Virginia Beach on Thursday morning at 7am sharp bound for Norfolk to meet our friend Tom Houser who was visiting for work just for the day. The water couldn't be better. Flat water low winds and bright sun. It is always windy here. We are used to boating in 10 to 15 mph wind. As long as the waves stay low and the current is with us we are happy.

Digging clams at Lynnhaven Channel

Grammy's condo

Along the way we went through the Lynnhaven channel passed places we have become familiar with, Chix Restaurant, Grammy Hechtkopf's condo, under bridges, over tunnels, with dozens of freighters waiting in the Atlantic Ocean for pilot boats like Matt Hechtkopf to bring them in. We saw Hampton to our right and veered to the port to pick up the correct channel into Norfolk.

See the green dots? Those are the freighters waiting to get in

Freighters waiting to get in

A pilot boat uploading a captain
 to bring this freighter in 

The tunnel entrance

We looked back and saw these 2 jet skis coming fast on our tail. Wait! Those are not jet skis. Those are Seal teams on hard bottom inflatables packed with young men and large guns, just like in the movies!!

Blackhawk helicopter doing maneuvers

We must be in Norfolk!

Oysterman at work in the Bay

A Seal Team

And another Seal team right behind it!!
This one has guns pointed at us - kind of intimidating

And there they go!!

Entering Norfolk

 We pulled into Waterside Marina in Norfolk at 10:30 exactly as we planned. Tom Houser met us at the dock. It is SOOO great to see old friends in new contexts. Tom wanted to talk about the trip, the club, and a little about the family. We hope to see them back at Sandusky in the fall sometime, in their natural habitat.

Relaxing with Tom Houser and Rusty

Tom took us to lunch. Actually he took Kermit to lunch. I had a webinar at 1pm that I couldn't miss since I was the featured speaker. After lunch and the webinar Kermit and I took Rusty out to explore the park. It was too hot for much of a walk but Rusty enjoyed the water featured that brought cool water rushing under his back side. He just stood there, getting wet, ignoring the screaming little kids. 

The best way to follow such a treat is a nap. We grabbed a couple of lounge chairs and some beers and just listened to the music in the shade. This is the life!

We debated our next move. Jim and Joy expected us in Yorktown and that was where we want to be but the weather looked ify. We couldn't stay in Waterside because they have a go-fast poker run this weekend. So we have to move somewhere. The wind picks up in the afternoon so we have to move in the morning. NOAA was predicting Armageddon. We knew that wasn't going to happen. When we got up, it was a little 

overcast but the winds were decent. Good boating weather. So we left!

NEXT: On to Yorktown