Annapolis, Chesapeake Bay, Norfolk, Old Towne Portsmouth

This is a submarine. It was being escorted down the Chesapeake Bay by a naval boat. It was a lot bigger that what it looks like in this picture. We're still in Olde Towne Portsmouth waiting for a cupler for our crankshaft on the boat. It should be coming in on Tuesday and we're getting pulled out of the water to repair the crankshaft and propeller and then back in and off down the ICW. We're really enjoying The Coffee House and Art Gallery and all the old homes in Olde Towne Portsmouth.


In parts of the Chesapeake Bay you can't see any water. It's really shallow, not over 40 feet deep and most of it was under 20 feet except for in the dredged channel. The waves were frequent and it was very choppy when the wind blew. It tooks us 5 days to go down the bay. We anchored at night at around 6 all the way down, which was great.

It was still pretty cool as you can see by the amount of clothing that Sally and I were wearing.

This night we were at anchor again and we were getting a beautiful sunset and it felt warmer.

What a sunset!!! This was near Windmill Point on the Chesapeake.

Captain Anthony at the helm.

It was great having Sally as crew, she was a big help.

We saw quite a few huge boats like this one on the Delaware Bay and the Chesapeake Bay, in New York Harbour and on the ocean. Our AIS worked really well and alarmed us every time one of these boats came within range.

Hey guys, missing you and wishing it was warmer.

As we came into Norfolk there was a large number of US Navy boats, 3 or 4 aircraft carriers and numerous smaller ones getting refitted and having work done on them. They were all grey so it might be hard to tell how many there were in the picture. There was a lot of naval presence in Norfolk.

This barge came up right beside us being pushed by two tug boats. It was a monstrous barge.

As we came up the Elizabeth River to anchor in the hospital bay a Cruise Ship was there at dock, one of the Carnival Lines and was leaving for the Bahamas. There were 5 stories of balconied rooms above the deck. It was humongous.

This amazing steel junk rig anchored behind us. Unfortunately we didn't get to see it with the sails up.

The next night we pulled into Tidewater Yacht Marina so that we could do laundry, shower and use their internet. They also had mail for other people, a computer and a phone.

I thought this was a great name for a boat. I laughed.

This gorgeous little boat is a Brigatine rigged boat. It's for sale. Make an offer.

This is the ferry we took to Norfolk for $3 return. The marketplace for food was in Norfolk so we went over to buy groceries and then went out for a bday supper for me at Outbacks.

This Anthony and me in on the paddleboat ferry to Norfolk.

Anthony found a girlfriend. There were mermaids all over Norfolk and Olde Towne Portsmouth.

This is the Battleship Wisconsin. It was the size of a building, a huge building. It was from WWII. We might go tomorrow and have a tour of it. The fellow at The Coffee Shop said that the tour guides were retired naval officers and one guy was "as old as dirt".

This is Sally and I at Outback for my bday. I had steak, crab and shrimp and dessert. It was really good and I ate way toooooo much.

This is Anthony and I at Outback.

This is me outside in front of the dock where we caught the ferry back to Olde Towne Portsmouth where we had our boat tied up.

The Outback was inside this plaza and I bought my postcards there and stamps and souvenirs.

I loved the old houses in Olde Towne Portsmouth. There were very big and a lot of them have been divided up into apartments. There were many For Rent signs.

Built in 1855, the Macon House.

I love round turrets.

It was easy to walk around the Olde part of town.

There were a lot of old churches too. Huuuuge churches.

We went to The Art Gallery and the women there wanted Anthony to sit for them so they could sketch him. This is Sarah and one of her drawings. It was a lot of fun. They had free wireless too so I was kept busy doing my blogging but still need to do Flickr.

This is another lady's sketch. It really looks like him doesn't it.

This is Laura's sketch. She used watercolour pencils. They were really friendly women and I loved the space.

In the evening we went to the Commodore Theatre that was built in 1945. It had been renovated and they put in tables, soft chairs and lights on the tables and a phone. You order your food on the phone, dialing 0 and then at 7 o'clock the movie starts and you can watch it sitting at your table. We saw Couple's Retreat which was funny.

There were these huge murals on the two walls. They had been touched up and were so beautiful.

This is another one third of the mural, I had to take three pictures to get the whole mural on one of the walls. They are having a ghost walk here tonight but we're not going.

Well I am finally caught up with my blog so we're going home to the boat for supper and Medium comes on our TV tonight at 9. We get one channel but that's all we need. We have been watching Heroes CDs for season 3 and we finished the Sopranos series. The last one was so sad. We had been watching it for months and now it's over. I miss the characters. It's so much like reading a book when you watch a series. After Heroes we have Nip and Tuck and The Tudors and some movies Bonnie leant us. We read a lot, I'm on my third book and we leave them at the book exchanges in the marinas along the way. Anthony has read a gazillion books, he is a fast reader. I am a slow reader but I love it. Karen and Warren, I have read two of the three books you gave us and loved them. Judy and Dawn, we are really enjoying the books you sent along with us and have been leaving them in ports all along the way as we read them. Noella, I finished the Cookson Trilogy and have left it here in Olde Towne Portsmouth at the Tidewater Yacht Marina. Hope everyone is happy and well. Thinking of all you, often.