Our Adventure Begins!

Day 1

9/14/5

We left Southall Landings Marina in Hampton for the last time about 11:30 am, naturally later than we wanted.  As soon as we were in open water it was immediately apparent that we had barnacle growth on the propellers in spite of having had a diver clean them just a little over a month ago.  I tried calling several marinas in Norfolk, but had no luck getting a diver on short notice.  Since our speed will be limited to “no wake” all through Norfolk and through the Dismal Swamp Canal, I decided not to worry about it until we get to Elisabeth City, NC and hopefully we can get a diver to clean the bottom while we’re there for a couple of days.

As we headed to Norfolk we saw a submarine leaving the Navel base and headed out to sea.  This is the first time I’ve seen this.

Going through Norfolk we saw the naval base and a ferry, many navy ships being refitted, and finally we reached the cutoff to the Dismal Swamp Canal.  Since we missed the last lock opening for the day we found a free dock and tied up for the night.