Friday June 3, 2011

Lat 36 43 22; Long 76 14 11; 132 gal eng 830.5, Oil and all filters changed. Atlantic Yacht Basin

We went over and got a pump out before we left, waited until the Great Bridge opened and moved down river. As soon as we finished going through the bridge, we entered a lock, albeit not much of a lock since it was only a two foot rise in water but being old hands in the locking process, there was not much of a problem. As we traveled down the river we ran into a number of bridges that we had to wait for an opening as they were only about 6 to 12 feet off the water. There were a number of boats ahead of us and since we were not in a hurry we did not pass. As we approached Norfolk the river got extremely busy with lots of dry docks and boats working the river. Passed a large helicopter landing craft or aircraft carrier (can't tell which, although the aircraft carrier is a lot larger, but I couldn't tell how big the ship was) getting some work done it in dock.


Aircraft Carrier??




This place is apparently the world's largest navel base and you could see the protection that was set up for the naval ships - a perimeter fence all around the yard where the ships were located and several guard boats cruising up and down the river in front of the yard 24/7. Based on our previous experience early last month, I was very careful not to annoy them.

We decided to go into Waterside Marina which is in downtown Norfolk. The City has done a lot to the waterfront such that it is a place for people to go on the weekend - live music, lots of restaurants and boat traffic. There are mermaids all along the waterfront (each of them different) pointing directions. Somewhat similar to the moose that Toronto had several years ago, but these appear permanent. A nice touch to the city.






We took a walk along the waterfront and came upon a war memorial, but it was unlike any that I have seen before. Instead of listing names of the fallen, letters written home by the soldiers to their loved ones were inscribed on metal tablets. The letters were written during the War for Independence, The Civil War, WW I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Gulf War. The interesting thing was the letters were written shortly before the soldiers were killed and they were extremely touching.


Letter Home





Once we settled in, we went and took the naval harbour tour past the actual naval base. We were amazed by the number of ships in port and the size and cost of them - even had two subs in base. Our tour described some of the advanced electronic equipment that was on the various ships to counter attacks. Consider that this is only part of the fleet and that there are ships all across the various oceans on duty and in other naval bases, you start to realize the size of the American Navy and its capabilities. Truly amazing, since we hear about these ships on the TV but don't really realize their size and what they really can do. Lots of protection around the ships and lots of boats running around to prevent any one from trying to enter the perimeter. One of the ships in the yard was the USS Cole which was attacked by terrorists in the late 90's in which several naval seamen died. When you look at the pictures, you can see the perimeter security around the base.













After our boat trip we went for a walk around the Wisconsin - a WW II battleship that was also used in the first Gulf War and is now retired in the harbour of Norfolk. It again is truly huge and in its day was quite the fighting machine. It would be useless today with missiles that could take it out from thousands of miles away. It was built for ship to ship battle and while its guns could fire shells out 20 miles, the aircraft carrier can provide far more fire power.


The Wisconsin