2026 April: Boarded by USCG in Norfolk VA

 28 April 2026
Depart: North River, NC anchorage 8:30 a.m.
Arrive: Old Point Comfort / Mill Creek anchorage VA 6:30 p.m.
Distance: ~ 62 nm
Conditions: Cool, breezy, pretty consistent 15 knot winds throughout day

We had a few choices for our destination tonight depending on how our travels went throughout the day and how late we wanted to drop anchor for the night. Tying up to Great Bridge fixed dock was an option if I wanted to stop for provisions. If not, we could drop anchor at Hospital Point in Norfolk or continue on to Old Point Comfort anchorage further along in Virginia. 

Once again I had a hard time getting out of the warm bed to brave the temperature in our stateroom. This morning the thermometer showed me 50 degrees at 7:30. Brrrr! Clark was busy doing a variety of tasks this morning while getting ready to leave, so I grabbed my breakfast and ate before we got underway. He did not eat breakfast, so I pulled something together for him once we were underway. It was a rather late start considering we had quite a distance to cover today.

I took far too many photos today, but the scenery changed so significantly from one part of the day to another, it was impossible not to take oodles of shots. 

We scared some birds from their
roost on the marker as we went by

Definitely do not get on the wrong side
of this red marker!

Lots of land with no homes / buildings were seen along today's route.

We passed the 50 mile marker on the ICW indicating we are 50 statute miles from Norfolk which is mile zero.

ICW Marker - 50 miles to Norfolk, VA

We saw lots of birds out fishing today.

In Coinjock we passed an area under construction. It looks like a new marina is coming this way in the near future. 

The landscape was interesting as we came up on the Coinjock Marina. I never really looked closely at it  before.

Rotting away bulkheads from days gone by

Stones form a bulkhead here

And then suddenly, where it had been only trees, birds, and marshes, houses started to appear.

The height of the towers carrying power through the area was impressive!

We passed a park in Coinjock.

The docks at the Coinjock Marina were empty except for one lone boat that left the dock shortly after we passed by. By the end of the day when loopers are traveling, there is not a spare inch on these docks.

Someone was there at work though!

If anyone is interested, we passed a 54-acre island for sale. It looks like it needs a lot of work.

Remains of some old brick structures
clutter the water's edge

Nice island from a distance

Some other sightings along today's trip through the marshes of North Carolina.

Lots of birds fishing on the ICW...

Nesting Osprey

Some jets flew overhead.

Lots of tree stumps litter the waterway. Some are trying to grow back or grow other vegetation on top.

Occasionally a house / building could be seen. From a distance the building below looked like a lone building on the water's edge, but it turned out to be one of a number of buildings consisting of someone's home.

Several barges went by today. As "Island Lookout" came by, he spoke into the radio complaining about the boats passing him with large wakes. He said something like "You all have expensive boats and it's going to cost you if you damage the cables on this tow!"

"Island Lookout", Edenton, NC
Carrying scrap metal

One passed us carrying a load of gravel. I had a laugh when I saw the name of the tug!

Larry Gravely

We had a few bridges to go through today that required careful timing to avoid long waits for the next opening. As we made our way towards the North Landing bridge, we were haled by someone on a boat called "Change of Pace". They haled us because they knew us! We first met them in 2016 at Faro Blanco when we were both docked there for a couple of months. Clark and Brent had a chat and got caught up on what they've been doing for the past few years. 

"Change of Pace" behind us 
waiting for the bridge

Five boats were heading north to go through the bridge. One sailboat was heading south. The bridge tender sounded frustrated as he said he had tried to reach the sailboat multiple times and concluded that the boat did not have a radio! We had the current, and the sailboat should wait for us to go through first. It was unclear if the sailboat pilot would realize that. 

The first in line tooted his horn and signaled the boat that several of us would follow through. As we came through the bridge, the sailboat made a U-turn in front of us, and then turned again to circle back to wait for the bridge. I held up two fingers to indicate two more boats were following us through the bridge. Someone over the radio speculated that the boat pilot "had no clue what he was doing".  

My guess was that instead of being on Ch 13 for the bridge, his radio (if he had one) was tuned to a different channel. Everyone made it through the bridge safely, so no issues!

S/V "Night Watch"

After the North Landing bridge, we needed to pick up speed to make it to the Centerville Turnpike bridge for their next opening in 1/2 hour. If we did not make it on time, we would have an additional half hour to wait for the next opening. Long story short, we made it on time pushing our speed up towards 9 kts.

The next bridge on the route id usually open and was under construction and up already. As we traveled the ICW today, we heard reports on Ch 22 on the VHF radio warning boaters of the damaged bridge. 

Albemarle - Chesapeake RR bridge

The guys working on the bridge were friendly, and several waved to me as we went by.

Today's travels took us from North Carolina into Virginia. Clark wanted to make a stop at Top Rack to buy fuel today. I read on the news that fuel prices were going up today. Today's price for diesel at Top Rack was $4.999, and we wanted to fill up before the prices went any higher. One of potential stops for the night was the fixed dock at Great Bridge; however, if we stopped there, we would not get to Top Rack today. We decided to keep going.

As we passed AYB (Atlantic Yacht Basin), our friends on Change of Pace, Brent and Deb, turned off the ICW as they were stopping there. We continued on. 

Docks at Atlantic Yacht Basin

Our next bridge of the day was the Great Bridge bridge followed by the Great Bridge lock.

Waiting for the bridge

It's opening!

Welcome to Chesapeake, VA

One of many statues on the wall

Man (in red) fishing at the water's edge

Entering the lock

The left side of the bridge (going north) had rubber fenders for the boats to rest on as they traverse the lock. Each of these fenders is covered with stickers - most containing the name of a boat that transited the lock at some point in time. I don't remember ever seeing one where I recognized the boat name. It seems to be a fad, but we consider it as liter.

Exiting the lock, I noticed a sign for the Atlantic ICW!

We passed a lot of tugs and work boats today with the majority of our encounters occurring the closer we got to Norfolk, Virginia.

I had just finished stowing the lines we used at the lock when Clark reminded me that I needed to deploy lines for our stop at Top Rack for fuel. 

On our way to Top Rack, I saw a "Tow Boat US" pass by with its light flashing.

While we were at Top Rack getting the holding tank pumped out and fuel pumped in, the tow went by in the opposite direction. The guys at Top Rack expected the boat to be towed into their docks, but the tow just kept going.

After taking on over 400 gallons at $4.99, we pulled in our lines and continued on our way. We still had two choices for where to drop anchor tonight. The ultimate decision was yet to be made.

Traveling through Norfolk is always interesting. Bridges, cranes, towers, naval vessels, sailboats, etc etc etc!

Looking up at the under side of bridges yields new and interesting perspectives.

Power lines are tall and plentiful through here.

We got lucky today. The Norfolk Southern #7 bridge was open when we arrived. We passed through and under the Gilmerton Bridge with no delay.

It seems like all of Norfolk was under construction as everywhere we looked we saw cranes.

Clark was somewhat fascinated by the crane below. It was so tall and looked like it would fall over. He decided it must be seriously anchored at the base.

Many other cranes were positioned throughout Norfolk along the water's edge.

Passing through Norfolk, one cannot miss the naval vessels. The ones I saw today all appeared to be under repair.

BAE Systems

Mobile Weld Lab

Warship

Besides naval vessels, we saw a number of other boats in this busy city.

Tugs ...

"American Legend" cruise ship

Naval Base Cruises

"Elizabeth River Ferry"

Security Boat

A few sailboats were "playing" in the area as well.

Some scenes never change.

Welcome to Norfolk

Nauticus

Waterside Marina

We crossed off one more option for tonight's anchorage as we motored through here. We went past Hospital Point and kept going. Shortly afterwards, we got a surprise! A US Coast Guard boat approached us. Clark and I both suspected that we were about to be boarded. We were right!

As they came up to our boat, they asked if we had ever been boarded by the Coast Guard. I replied, "Yes. A few years ago." They decided that we needed to be boarded again. I told them that we just had a boat inspection a couple of days ago by a rep from the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The head guy poo-pooed that as not the same thing and said they would come on board. 

To come on board, we slowed down but did not stop. I opened the door / gate in the stern for them to jump on board from their boat. Unfortunately, one of them stepped onto our swim platform instead of entering through the gate I opened. The gate door on the stern sticks. I wondered what he would think when I opened the dock box and pulled out a rubber mallet and starting swinging it at the door!

They checked our IDs and boat registration, looked for life jackets and a throw cushion, inquired about a fire extinguisher in the engine room, asked about our point of origin and destination, and then as fast as they boarded they disembarked. But, not before I had them pose for a picture for the blog. 

USCG inspection crew

They were polite and friendly, and they were on and gone so fast, it was no imposition at all. When I told them I wrote a blog, they wanted to know the URL, so I gave them a boat card. It certainly broke up the day in a bizarre, fun way.

After that excitement, it was time for this very long day to come to a close. When we said goodbye to the USCG folks, we headed to drop anchor for tonight at the Old Point Comfort / Mill Creek anchorage. That was still an hour's ride away. 

As we left Norfolk, we were haled on the radio by a tug boat guiding a large vessel out of Norfolk and into Chesapeake Bay area. He asked that we move over to the other side of the channel to get out of his way. We saw several vessels and tried to figure out which one was "coming out".

"Great Fluency"
Hong Kong

"Golden Kiku"
Panama

The last in the row of three was the one with a tug "on the hip" ready to come out.

"d'Amico"

We stayed over to the far side of the channel to keep out of his way. His speed exceeded ours so eventually he would catch up / pass us. 

Finally, we reached the anchorage we had chosen. During the last hour of our cruise, I went into the galley and prepared dinner - spaghetti, meatballs, a vegetable and salad, so that when we dropped anchor we could eat rather quickly. As I readied the food, I sent Clark out for a sunset picture for tonight.