Beez Neez now Chy Whella - Leaving Norfolk

Leaving Norfolk

Beez Neez now Chy Whella

Big Bear and Pepe Millard

Wed 22 Jun 2011 17:00

Leaving Norfolk

We left the marina at ten to eight

We had to wiggle around a fair few dredgers hard at work

We passed a fire house, I was not only impressed with the size of their hose, they had a 'bug' (Chrysler Cruiser) parked outside in purple

Weird looking Potting Shed right in the middle of things

Huge things for me to look at

We are in a vast area and Beez is the tiniest vessel for miles around - but her chin is proudly stuck out

On the radio we hear a submarine is about to go out from the Naval yard, I speak to the Coastguard who tells me to stick close to the red markers and "Have a nice day ma'am". One boat clearly did not obey and was threatened with action and a fine if it went any closer to the 'Navy side of the street'.

USS Warship 60 also comes out neatly pushed round by a tug. Lovely to see the crew lining up around the deck. Then we hear that USS Warship 50 is inbound with tug assistance and everyone is to keep clear and make no wake. The Comms Officer was radioing each and every vessel to say the same thing.

Meantime - working girls get about their usual chores

We thoroughly enjoyed passing the various Navy yards, the odd chum and USS Warship 60 now outbound leaving her tugs and us behind at speed

There was an awful lot of activity on this girl

As we passed we could see why.........oops, a slight repair required

A final right turn across this vast bay saw impressive buildings to our left, including a lighthouse. On our right a fort. Then a long run to get to the CBBT (own blog)

After a couple of hours we finally meet USS Warship 50, complete with her four tugs. He didn't radio me, I was so far to the right of the channel he knew I couldn't possibly make any wake. As she passed we could clearly see that she had a little trouble with her "back door" currently at a very jaunty angle.

As we passed through the CBBT we saw loads of girls at anchor, some patiently awaiting tugs, permission to enter the bay - so lots of chatter to listen to. The weather was treating Bear's knee well, with a sea as flat as a pancake. We were kept amused for hours listening to the Navy and watching a patrol plane fly back and forth. "This is the US Navy, will vessel........... please answer and proceed out of the active firing range, an exercise is about to begin". Still we never know what to expect next but it does keep us entertained and often very amused.

We found ourselves tucked in behind a yacht heading our way and settled into a nice, easy afternoon. If you looked up you would assume we were miles out to sea, if we looked back we could still see the massive expanse of the CBBT. I made Bear get wet-eyed laughing when I stated firmly, "I will not go below 6.8 metres below us". He thought that very funny as over the last few weeks I was more than happy with anything over 0.4. "A girl has to set standards you know" - Clearly.

Have you ever seen a dodgy knee'd man realise he could be in trouble

Bear did.

Steady Bear, steady

It's all going down in my memory bank and WILL be got back to at a later date when he can tolerate just punishment...........

Later in the afternoon the yacht ahead came on the radio for a chat (seen in the sunset photo below). Tillicum has been cruising for three years from Vancouver, taking in Belize and Honduras. They were heading up to New York to give a talk at a yacht club on their adventures, they were stopping in Sandy Hook for a break. We wished them well and settled for the evening.