Norfolk to Charleston - Wet, windy and warships

We said our goodbyes to Gary and Greta and set out from a sunny Norfolk with a force 4 breeze, we raised the mainsail but knew that we would be motor sailing for the next couple of hours.  As we made our way up the Elizabeth River there was a reasonable about of boat traffic, at one point we had four tugs looming behind us.

One of the many tugs along Elizabeth River

We then had 2 cargo ships heading directly at us crossing the channel and heading into the docks.  The Naval base was also busy and we had our first radio call from a Naval boat, as Warship 57 radioed and advised us to hold course as we passed port to port, with the rail full of soldiers who looked like they were looking forward to arriving home.

Our first chat with the US Navy

As we continued into the Chesapeake making progress to the Atlantic the wind built to 28 knots as we bumped along the shallow chop.  This was not forecast but we were still looking forward to getting out to sea.  As we approached Virginia Beach we could see an Aircraft Carrier speeding out of the Bay, there were 2 helicopters hovering close, a large ship coastguard ship leading the way and following at the rear plus 2 smaller boats on each side.  Before we knew it one of the smaller boats with a machine gun on the front had appeared about 15 foot off our Port side, Mark switched on the VHF as we thought they were going to radio us but they just made eye contact through their open door and maintained their position next to us until the Aircraft carrier had made it’s way past us, not sure what sort of threat we posed especially as we battled upwind trying to eat lunch from a saucepan! Once it had passed the intimidation didn’t stop as the huge coastguard boat moved out of the channel and directly behind us, we gave them a friendly wave.

Not sure why they through we may have been a threat, look at the size of it!

Glad when it has finally passed us

We were finally able to turn south and run parallel along the Virginia Beach shore which made the wind at a better angle and it had dropped off slightly to 15-20 knots, we could start to relax a little. As the night fell we prepared for the night by getting the cosy bunk ready with 2 sleeping bags as it was cold and preparing a hot dinner.  The night continued without too much excitement, we both managed to get some sleep and managed our watches with the wind behind and not too much rolling, there seemed to be a constant stream of tugs and barges, we thought it was a little surprising for so many barges to be out at sea but there may have been more that usual as the Intracoastal had a broken lock which may have forced traffic around the outside.

Tug and barge in distance as the sunrise

Glad to see it getting light on a very long night

By 9.30am the wind had dropped off and the engine went on, we were still in relatively shallow water paralleling the coast.  There were a few other boats around and a bigger boat called French Kiss seemed to divert so they could motor past and give us a wave – well Amanda a wave as Mark was asleep.

As the sun set on a second night at just after 5pm, Amanda slept and we motored sailed with light winds.  Early that evening we were treated to a visit from some dolphins, bottled nosed we think as they are quite large, a pod of around 15-20 dolphins racing around the boat, what a lovely time we were having.

Things started to deteriorate for us later that night, around 9.30pm the wind quickly increased and we had around 20 knots of the nose but along with this a very confused sea.  We were unable to tack inshore at this point as there was shoaling and we were unable to head out to sea without the risk of getting in the Gulf Stream pushing us north. So we persevered, we were getting chucked all over the place as Magnum slammed into the short steep seas with water piling over the decks.  This continued throughout the night with neither of us being able to rest until we were clear of Cape Lookout, at which point it was deep enough for us to head inshore and start sailing. We were still hard on the wind, around 20 knots, and we were also moving in the wrong direction but the motion eased and we could sail.  As we headed in shore and the sun was up there we lots of little fishing boats buzzing around plus more Warships.  Our second contact with a Warship, as they radioed and request we diverted to their stern as they were completing small boat manoeuvres.  We headed inshore until it started to shallow and then started our tack back out to sea, still hard on the wind and still very tiring and difficult to move around the boat, thankfully we both had our seasick patches so were not feeling too awful.

Whilst bashing back out to sea we were joined by a lovely little bird, he hopped around the cockpit trying to get some shelter from the wind, every time Mark went near him, to adjust our course, he would fly off but he was struggling with the wind and was desperate to get back on board.  At one point we were both downstairs and he sat in the companion way looking longingly at the warm and cosy cabin but he was too scared to venture to close, we were pleased to help him along his way but he soon flew off.

Our little birdy friend

As the day went on the wind continued from the South East and we continued to tack, not wanting to head to far out to sea as with this we started to enter the Gulf Stream and the sea became more and more disturbed.  There was some rest during the day and we were cheered up by the visiting dolphins but we were in for another tiring night.

Dolphins surfing the waves

As it approached midnight the wind finally started to veer but as it did it started to build and was quickly well into the 20’s and we had 3 reefs in the mainsail to try to slow us over the increasingly bumpy sea, we were now experiencing a wind over tide motion with the north west wind against the gulf stream.  The wind continued to build as we continued to adjust the high wind alarm, 35 knots was regularly appearing on the windometer.  Amanda wedged herself in the bunk and Mark harnessed on in the cockpit.

The gulf stream was forecast to be at least 10nm offshore at this point and we should have been well inshore of it, but we had at least 1/1.5 knts of current against us. With a following gale and shallow water, 10/20 meters, the sea state was atrocious; we were in for a long scary night!

In these situations, we just have to keep the boat safe, trust that she will look after us and remind ourselves that all bad weather changes eventually.

Finally as the sun came up the winds started to moderate, as we passed Cape Fear and Mark was finally able to think about getting some rest. Again the dolphins popped along to cheer us up and we were making direct progress to Charleston but had added miles to our journey with all the previous days upwind work, meaning another night at sea.

Thankfully the wind had dropped off to 15-20 knots from the North East so it was a relatively comfortable sail and by the early hours of the morning we were motoring sailing both desperate to get into Charleston.  There is a long channel to get into Charleston and even once reaching the outer sea walls we had hours of sailing before reaching the very welcoming marina.

Charleston harbour