Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

WE awaken to yet another bright, calm morning, but our alarm clock is someone beside the wharf with a lawn mower! Good on them!

We're off the dock by 0730. Graeme's on the lines while Preston inches the boat forward for him, and I set about chammying things down after last night's thunder storm and downpour.

We motor up the short remainder of the North Carolina Cut and into Coinjock Bay from where the channel soon leads us into Currituck Sound and the North Landing River. The ICW takes us through North Landing River in a narrow channel, belied by the visual breadth of the river. The river presents as a sound at this location. depth in the channel is around 13 ft and around us in the 'bay', 3, 4, or 5 ft. You could walk across this wide river at this point. We talk to a southbound tug... he wants us to pass on his 'One', ie port-to-port. Preston moves across for him and we briefly see 8 and 9 ft of water beneath us.

At 30 statute miles (yes, we only have 30 miles of the Atlantic ICW to negotiate), we're into the sinuous North Landing River proper and heading up to the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal that will lead us up to the Great Bridge Lock (the first for us on this voyage) thence into the southern branch of the Elizabeth River and finally the Lafayette River at Norfolk.

The Great Bridge Lock isn't really a 'lift-you-up-or-down' arrangement. Rather, it's to control the salinity level in the North Landing River and thus also Currituck Sound by limiting tidewater from the Elizabeth River flowing back down the canal to the North Landing River. Graeme and I hold the lines on our port side but the boat doesn't get any lower, before the gates ahead open and we pull in our lines and lead our procession of about 15 other vessels (that have gathered behind us since we left Coinjock, and are probably mostly 'bLoopers') out into the Elizabeth River.

Our voyage towards Norfolk--about 12 miles distant--is delayed several times as we wait for bridges to open and, in one case, a tug holding a barge against a dock while a massive crane is walked onto it.

A coal train crossing a bridge holds us up at one bridge as does a caboose hop at another as we arrive into industrial (and naval) Norfolk. Some of the bLoopers behind us peel off and head for the Waterside Hotel and its marina. The American Great Loop Cruisers Assn is holding its annual Rendezvous here at the moment.

Preston's brother-in-law, who dined with us at Coinjock last night, meets us on the dock at the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club just into the Lafayette River, and PHASE ONE of our great journey is done.

Having started from near West Palm Beach rather than down in Key West, we've negotiated about 90% of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and what an experience it's been! Graeme and I crack a beer while Preston and Sam take 5 oil samples from the engines.

PHASE TWO will take us from here to Waterford, NY, where the Mohawk River meets the Hudson River., PHASE THREE will take us through about half of what is known as the 'Erie Canal' (more correctly, the New York State Barge Canal) to Oswego on Lake Ontario, and PHASE FOUR will be the Great Lakes from Oswego via the Welland Ship Canal, Cleveland, and Detroit to Traverse City, Michigan.

We three walk to the yacht club restaurant for a celebratory dinner. Tomorrow, we'll shop and then explore some of Virginia's history.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......Read more