Portsmouth/Norfolk to Deltaville, Doziers Yacht Center Fri Aug 3 2012

There also is a mile 0 on I 95

Portsmouth and Norfolk are across the waterway from each other. Portsmouth is on the west side, with Norfolk on the east. We stayed at the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth which is mile 0 on the ICW. Going north the miles start at 206.

We arrived on Monday, July 30th, and ended up staying  nights. We took this opportunity to go and get our car from Edisto Island SC. It was much further than we thought, about 9 hours one way. We returned to the boat on Wednesday. We got a stone chip on the rental car windshield, so it made for a very expensive trip.

I'm calling this a destroyer. 

Peter wanted to get a supply of oil filters for the boat and he picked 2 up while we were in Charleston, and had the Napa store in Norfolk order some in also. It is very difficult driving around between Portsmouth and Norfolk. Very poorly designed. They take 5 lanes of traffic and reduce it down to 2 lanes to go thru a tunnel from one side to the other. The radio station reported that there was a 1 hour wait at all of the tunnels. Good news was that the Napa store had ordered 3 filters, just in case ...... so Peter said he would take all of them. We now have 5 filters.

Bob and Linda on ferry to Norfolk

The unfortunate part of this story, is that Peter forgot his credit card at the store and didn't realize it until he got back to the boat. After we had taken the ferry across to Norfolk for lunch he had to make the horrendous return trip thru all of the traffic back to Norfolk.

Ferry runs every 30 minutes.

Sunrise at Tidewater Marina Portsmouth.

We left Norfolk early in the morning to make the 54 mile trip up the Chesapeake Bay to Deltaville. Norfolk is navy central. All kinds of destroyers, aircraft carriers, etc. A lot of them were in for repairs and upgrades. Mile after mile of navy ships. Huge deep channels. What an experience. As we were going out the main channel we met a navy ship coming in. They are impressive.

Not sure what this is but I'm calling it a destroyer.

It was pretty straight shot up the shore. We saw about 4 pods of dolphin travelling close to a fishing boat. Nothing much to report as we were at least a half mile off shore most of the time and travelled in 20' to 30' of water depth.

It was a little tricky to find the marked channel to get into Doziers but once we found them, a very easy entry. Well marked. The marina is well equipped, and it even has a pool that I hope to visit shortly.

The water temperature is about 81 degrees, the air temperature is still over 92 degrees. The last 2 nights the temperature has gone down into the mid 70's so it  is comfortable for sleeping. The air conditioning runs from the time we get docked until we unplug it in the morning. The system is a very old one, works hard, but does not really cool the boat down too much until the middle of the night. By morning you are glad to shut it off. Couldn't make this trip without the AC.

I asked Peter what he wanted me to put in the blog. He said I needed to say that "Peter is behaving himself, and that he gets more handsome every day...... and he only farts 6 to 10 times a night." His words, not mine. His words, as he was leaving the boat on the way for a shower and some time poolside.


It is so hot and humid during the day, that every late afternoon we get a rain, and or thunderstorm come through. They move in quickly and leave just as quickly. Some of them are stronger than others. This was the storm clouds on Thursday night. They can have wind gusts of 70 miles per hour. Another reason why we like to start early in the day and be tied to a dock well before the late afternoon showers. Usually between 4 to 6 pm. This has been going on now for about 3 weeks. The marina manager said that this is not typical. I would rather have these daily storms than a hurricane. June 1st to Nov 15th/30th is hurricane season, and so far nothing to talk about. The further north we get, the less likely we are to encounter one now.