DAY TWENTY-SIX -- NORFOLK TO GLOUCESTER POINT, VA

                     DAY TWENTY-SIX -- NORFOLK TO GLOUCESTER POINT, VA

            We got underway at 1045 for a short run (about 39 miles) up to the York River Yacht Haven, a marina in Gloucester Point, across the York River from Yorktown. The plan is to spend the weekend here doing tourist stuff in Yorktown, Jamestown and Williamsburg, as a front is coming through that will make the Chesapeake very rough over the weekend. 

            The day was very hot -- it was supposed to hit 100 degrees -- and once we got to the marina three hours later, we hunkered down in the air-conditioned cabin and worked on the blog and on plans for the remainder of our trip. We also did a load of laundry at the marina. We had dinner at the restaurant on site. While it was kind of irritating listening to the crowd all day, and we had to wait 45 minutes for a table when we showed up at seven, the food was really good. 

         Here are a bunch of photos taken coming out the Elizabeth River and into Hampton Roads. This is supposed to be the busiest harbor in the country next to NYC, and a lot of it is Navy traffic, so there were lots of interesting boats. (People who aren't that interested in boats can just skip this bit.)  These are in order as we proceeded downstream. And I've done my best to identify the Navy ships but can't guarantee my answers. They can have multiple ships with the same hull numbers, and I wasn't always close enough (or smart enough) to look at the upper decks where they give the letters that identify what kind of ship it is. 

Here are the USS New York (LPD-21), an amphibious transport dock ship, and the USS Iowa Jima (LHD-7), an amphibious assault ship, in the repair yard across the river from our marina:

And the USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) and the USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) and (58), both guided missile cruisers, under repair:

And the Freedom, a roll-on roll-off carrier operated by ARC Shipping, whose website says that all of its vessels "are under contract in the Maritime Security Program", which I assume means contracted out to the US military. Not a very attractive ship, but I'm sure it's very practical.

And another ARC ship (the Honor) along with one of the Navy's own RO-RO ships, the Benavidez:

 

One of three container facilities that we passed, all three of which had three docks with two ships loading or unloading and one dock empty. Hard to square that with the dozen or more container ships that we saw riding at anchor outside Hampton Roads. Presumably they don't have enough trucks, or enough storage area, or something. They weren't sitting out there just for fun. 

 

The Norfolk & Southern coal docks. This used to be the biggest outlet for exporting US coal, primarily from Appalachia. Not sure if that is still the case.

The two ships being loaded at the N&S docks were the Nordic Odin and the GCL Hazira: 

And then the USS Joshua Humphreys, a replenishment oiler:

 

And then half a dozen Navy ships that look to be active or getting ready. Too many to try to identify. Notice the "fence" that surrounds them. It probably extends to the bottom. There were also a couple patrol boats on duty just outside this fence.

The Palanca Rio was the only big ship that we saw underway. Shipping websites say she is a bitumen tanker built in 2016.

Nearing the end of the Navy Yard, we saw the USS Bataan (LHD-5), an amphibious assault ship:

And then we entered the open waters of Hampton Roads and on into Chesapeake Bay. As we were leaving this busy harbor, we heard a Navy patrol boat on channel 16 announce that a submarine was heading out the Elizabeth River and everyone had to stay clear by 500 yards. I wanted to turn around and see it but was persuaded otherwise.