Bridges, Tunnels and Yards

Finding a boatyard that can haul a 21+ foot wide catamaran, is reasonably priced, and allows you to do your own work in the Chesapeake is more difficult than I had anticipated.  Maybe, after my previous experiences, I'm now a bit pickier about yards.  Of course, my need for both a short haul-out and time in the water while I work on the hardtop (don't want to be living on the hard while building the top) has played a role too.  In any case, the hunt for a yard has been interesting.

We were able to locate three yards that, at least on paper or via phone conversations, seemed to fit the bill.  So, the last couple days we ended up making short road trips to see these yards and meet the people before we decide.  And this segues into the other subject of this post.

Most people, at least that don't live around here, might agree that a bridge and a tunnel are mutually exclusive things.  One, the bridge, usually spans a gap or crosses over something like a river, gorge, or canyon. On the other hand a tunnel usually burrows it's way underground.  These seem like two mutually exclusive tasks...but not here in Hampton Roads.  Here they have highway structures called "bridge-tunnels" that are a combination of the two.

One of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel segments.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, and Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel all allow motorists in the area to cross the big rivers and the bays of the Chesapeake watershed.  They are bridges that cross over the water until they reach a shipping channel, then like a gopher, burrow beneath the channel so big boats (and us smaller sailboats) can pass overhead.  The 23 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is actually a combination of several trestles, two tunnels, and one span of bridge that goes over a channel.  And we used two of these to check out a boatyard in Cape Charles, saving us a very long land-only-based drive to the peninsula

The trip was productive and we were able to put the three "finalist" boatyards in order of preference. So, if we are able to get something setup with our first choice today, we should have a place to go to get work done next week.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

And here were a couple funny signs we found during the trip (previously posted on my Facebook page)...

Nonsense you say?

Do lots of people want to live here?

A Long Run Through the ICW

We awoke in the Alligator River pretty much where we had left the boat, the winds were still from the southeast...albeit at a lesser velocity than the night before.  Checking the anchor alarm, it showed we were 31 feet from where we had set it (with an accuracy of 14 feet...so we could very well be in the exact same spot). The goal today was to try and make it to the Great Bridge Lock, about 62 nautical miles away. This meant we needed to get an early start so we would have a little time buffer to deal with the 3 bridges that would need to open so we could pass. Of course the Alligator had different plans.

As we started to haul up the anchor, I discovered why I should have paid more attention to the length of the trip line. Instead of our anchor being stuck, it appeared that the trip line had caught something and at one point the anchor rode and trip line were pulling tight in opposite directions. I guess the boat swung a bit during the night after all. I had to attach another line to the trip line so I could use one of the sheet winches to help break the trip line free. Although we considered cutting the trip line, we were eventually able to work it free by applying tension on the line and rocking the boat back and forth with the motors. After freeing the initial snag, in our excitement to retrieve the trip line I accidentally ended up hauling the anchor up with the trip line. We pulled up the remaining anchor chain, secured the anchor and we're on our way.

After dodging several lines of crab pots (why do these genius fishermen use black, blue, and dark green for the buoy colors...you can barely see them in the water even on a bright and sunny day), we made our way to the Alligator river bridge. This bridge has always fascinated me because the road on either side of the bridge spans quite a distance before it reaches the shore. It is a long stretch of highway on stilts hovering about 20 feet over water. We call the bridge tender and he has the bridge opened for us as we get there so we don't even have to slow down. As we clear the bridge, I thank him for the opening and we head out into the Albemarle sound.

The Alligator River Swing Bridge

The forecast from the night before seemed accurate as we were only getting light winds from the southeast and at best one foot seas.  Not the greatest conditions for sailing (unless you want to go really slow), but a much more comfortable ride and that is a good thing. We sailed some and motor sailed some so we could keep on schedule on this long leg of our ICW path.

After crossing the Albemarle, we were forced back into the narrow winding streams and man-made trenches that would make up the rest of this day's leg of the trip. We were able to motor sail some, which added a knot or two to our single engine cruising speed.

Unlike the Alligator bridge that opens on demand, the next bridges as well as the lock operate on a fixed schedule. And as usual, I arrive at the next bridge in our trek just about exactly mid way between the scheduled openings. Fortunately the two engines on a catamaran that make it maneuverable, also make it easy to keep a fixed station in a current while waiting for the North Landing swing bridge to open. The bridge opens on schedule and we are on our way to the next bridge.

The Centerville Turnpike bridge is just over 4 nautical miles from the North Landing bridge and opens on the half hour.  That means we need to do better than 8 knots to make the next opening (unlikely without a good wind...which you don't get in a tree lined man-made channel) or throttle back to about 4.5 knots and resign yourself to make the opening in an hour. And, since it was 5pm and there would be no 5:30 opening anyway, we settled in for the lazy 4.5 knot trek to the next bridge. We arrive at the bridge with about 5 minutes to spare and are ushered through at 6pm. From there it was a short trip to our destination for the evening.

Our destination was one of the free docks that surround the Great Bridge bridge in Chesapeake, Virginia. Since I had stayed at the one on the north side of the bridge when I came through last fall, I opted to try the brand new one on the south side of the bridge. 

The dock is brand new and in very good shape and can fit 5 to 7 boats, depending on size. It is attached to a nice park with a walking path and currently has a porta-potty in case you are in need of one.  Both docks are within walking distance to restaurants and a grocery store. It is a great place to stop if you are in the area. The only bad thing is the park has some marshy area and the mosquitoes come out in hunting packs around dusk and dawn.

We tied up took the dogs for a walk, did a little reprovisioning at the store and treated ourselves to dinner at a reasonably priced local Mexican restaurant before calling it a day.

P.S. Sorry for the infrequent posts, but internet has been quite spotty of late. The signals aren't that reliable and it has taken me several days to get this to post.  I promise more are coming.  In the meantime, I have some better success getting small posts out to Facebook, so you can always check out the page there.