Portsmouth VA

We left Top Rack Marina late this morning intending to drop the anchor at Old Phoebus anchorage in Norfolk, but only 3 bridges into the trip, the heavens opened on us. It was grey-out rain where you pull your car over under an underpass. We did indeed pull over, next to 3 huge beached barges and a red mark. We hovered there for 15 minutes until we could see again, and proceeded. You really don't want to meet a barge being shoved from behind at you on a narrow twisty part of the ICW, when you can't see it, nor the shore, the marks or the industrial docks jutting out.

However, the "good" weather was fleeting, with bands of heavy rain arriving every 5 or 10 minutes. So we gave up and anchored in Portsmouth (Scott Creek), just before Norfolk.

A very quiet night, rather unexpected given our location in the midst of major shipping!Read more