Navy ship in drydock.
Navy ships everywhere.
The container ship CMA CGM NEW JERSEY
Aircraft carriers small . . .
. . . and big
Our friend Judy (on right) and her friend Agnes.
We made an easy departure from Waterside Marina at 5:40 a.m. and headed out into the Elizabeth River. This passage is very interesting because both sides of the river are lined with commercial ships of every description, as well as numerous U. S. Naval warships lined up at Norfolk Naval Base, the largest naval installation in the world.
A security zone is strictly enforced by patrol boats near the berthed Navy ships, and it is fascinating to hear some of the bridge crews talking on the radio about their intentions to pull out to sea or vice versa. We even heard one ship talking to a recreational vessel to get out of the way as it was pulling in! Truly any smart person would not want to be in the way of one of these destroyers or air-craft carriers!
We had a pleasant crossing of the Hampton Roads area where the “Monitor” and “Merrimac” had their Civil War sea battle, and then we entered the very wide lower Chesapeake Bay. Our trip north was very pleasant and we arrived at Dozier’s Regatta Point Yachting Center on the Rappahannock River at 2 p.m. This was a very lovely facility with pool, captains’ lounge, courtesy car, newspaper and continental breakfast in the morning, etc., and we would like to spend more time here on our trip south in the Fall.
We then got “Reflection’ and us cleaned up for the anticipated visit of our dear friend, Judy Hagerstrom. Judy has lived in this area for the past 20 years, but she and her deceased husband, Jack, have a special place in our hearts and were mentors to us when we all lived in Brick and were fellow members of the Bristol Sailing Club which we joined over 36 years ago!
She and her friend, Agnes, arrived at 6 p.m. for cocktails, and despite their mutual knee and hip problems, they were able to climb aboard and take a tour of “Reflection”. We had a great time catching up on all our mutual activities, and you couldn’t meet two more amiable, up-beat, active senior ladies than these two. It was then time to go out for dinner, and Agnes (at the age of 91) was our driver! She really knew her way around these rural roads, and we had an enjoyable dinner at “Cocomo’s”.
We returned to the marina about 10 p.m. and we said our “good-byes” to Judy and Agnes with hugs and kisses all around, and plans to see them again in the Fall, and maybe in Florida in the Winter!
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