On Saturday, 31 October we made our way to Portsmouth, which was a very quick trip. What could have been very busy traffic through the channel was very light this morning, and there were no dramas as we motored past the anchored Navy ships of all sorts and industrial operations. (photos will be posted soon)
We were docked at Tide Water Marina, before we realized we were .3 miles past mile marker 0 marking the beginning of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and indicating the official end of the Chesapeake Bay.
We spent the next couple of hours doing boat chores, cleaning the deck, exploring the town and reviewing the charts and planning our transit times for the next couple of days.
Sunday will be a day of firsts for us….
– first drawbridge we have to request to open
– first lock we have to go through – for those that don’t know, locks are used to lift or lower boats to from one level to another and are found on most canals. The lock itself is a section closed off by gates where we will enter and tie up against the wall (or another boat that is tied up against the wall). The lock controls the water level by flooding the dock or lowering the water. Once the water level in the lock corresponds with the water level of the other side of the gate the gate opens and we pass on through.
– first potential for rafting – which is when one boat ties up to the dock and another boat ties up to the boat and potentially a third (or more) continue to tie to the outside boat. This is done when there are more boats than space at a long dock.
We don’t expect to have electricity the next 3 nights, so don’t worry if there are not any blog updates for a few days.