Friday, October 4, 2013

Naval Gazing


Norfolk, Virginia is the biggest naval base in these United States of America! All day on the VHF radio we hear warnings to boaters to keep a safe distance from such & such a warship because they are conducting a live fire exercise. Once in a while we heard an aircraft carrier ask a pleasure boater to keep a little further away (federal law states that boats must stay at least 500 yards from any navy vessel). Entering Chesapeake Bay a navy tow boat was towing a massive navy supply ship. Passing through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge / Tunnel we were greeted with two massive hovercraft barreling towards us. Helicopters overhead. Even troop carriers a la WWII Normandy landing! Our current marina slip is only about a half mile away from docked battleships. Passing them on approach to our marina a small Navy Police boat pointed its bow at us ready to pounce should we make a beeline to ram one of the battleships. Once it was obvious our course was clear away they pointed their attention elsewhere. Phew.


JT here at Cobb's Marina was kind enough to lend us his pick-up truck to run some errands. My first time ever driving a pick-up! We went to a local discount marine store in the hopes of finding a new dinghy (none), then a hardware store where I bought a Dremmel tool (I think this will be very handy in the future) and refilled our little propane tank. It cost $4.96 to refill 1 gal of propane. I cannot believe we have been cooking off this tank for a entire month!


Later the dog sitter came to pick up Dexter and was nice enough to lend us a piece of rolling luggage for our quick trip to Toronto for Cassy's friend's wedding. We fly out early Saturday morning and return late Monday. Jet setter lifestyle.


If by any chance any of our readers know of a RIB Dinghy in the Norfolk area or nearby on our route down the Intra-Coastal Waterway please let us know. We've searched but to no avail. Sigh.

A bridge that turns into a tunnel! I've driven it before, scary!

Hovercraft

Troop Carriers


We've had a noise complaint from the neighbours...

America's finest military assets... protected by sausages.



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