Leaving the Chesapeake for the ICW

Our trip from Hampton in the southern Chesapeake brought us to Norfolk, Virginia with an amazing array of military vessels: mile after mile of aircraft carriers, destroyers and battleships (we think) accompanied by fighter jets and Apache helicopters (we think). As we continued, the navy ships were replaced by huge cranes for lifting and moving the containers from ships; and further on, as we approached Portsmouth, the scene changed to schooners, barges, and fishing vessels. We were agog and overwhelmed with the enormity of this larger than life industrial landscape.

Just before arriving at the turn off for the ICW or Intracoastal Waterway, we got stuck for about an hour behind a barge trying to maneuver a turn in order to pass through a drawbridge. A tug at the rear pulled backwards to act as a brake while another pulled the bow. Those barges are helpless without their mother tugs.

Finally, we got through the drawbridge and entered the ICW. Immediately, the environment changed dramatically. If you want to know how, see our next post on the Great Dismal Swamp.