Crane – MV Simple Life

Just before weighing anchor at Turtle Island we snapped one last panoramic picture (below)

The trip down the ICW to St. Catherine’s Island was made a bit more difficult by the 7+ foot tides that were running into low.

Of course you don’t need the depth finder to see where the shallows are; it’s where the birds are standing rather than floating.

I snapped the below picture as we ducked under this 30′ bascule bridge as Kelly piloted the boat.

Yesterday’s trip took us across the line into Georgia and past the Savannah River. We had a moment when we passed the marina where 12 years earlier we purchased our previous sailboat, Skull & Swords.

Isle of Hope Marina is on a bight along the ICW’s Skidaway River.

All points South of Isle of Hope Marina are new cruising grounds for us. Some of what we saw was bird life such as this unidentifiable bird of prey.

Or this stalker of the shallows:

We passed these guys who decided to pitch tents along the shore rather than sleep aboard.

Today’s trip will take us from St. Catherine’s Island to somewhere around Sapelo Island

We are going anchor to anchor over the next few days to find the sun. These unseasonably cold mornings (in the 40’s) are continuing to bedevil us.

That said, I needed to solve the riddle of who destroyed our porch pumpkin back home.

We searched through our home surveillance footage and nabbed the suspects.

Be on the lookout for these two.

Norfolk Leg — Route from The Great Machipongo Inlet to Top Rack Marina, Chesapeake, VA

Well we woke up early and left The Great Machipongo Inlet. The dolphins once again escorted us out and I turned South with the sun streaming in the port side pilothouse windows so hard I had to close the curtains and use the radar alone to tell what was on that side of the boat.

The sea was as flat as a model’s tummy so I lowered the RPMs on the diesel to get 2 MPG rather than 1 MPG. Simply by slowing the boat 1.3 knots we double our fuel efficiency! Don’t you wish that were the case for your car?

Thimble Shoal Light - Norfolk VA — Thimble Shoal Light

In a few hours we had snuck through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, past Thimble Shoal lighthouse and we were approaching Norfolk Navel Station.

What an amazing sight to get to these American Navy ships up close.

Warship 19 — USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) – Amphibious Transport Dock Ship

You can see the barrier fence that they stretch across the opening and that fence line is protected by a Navy Patrol boat with a machine gun on the bow.

A local news story revealed just a few months ago there were six bomb threats called in to the naval station and you can call NCIS if you know anything. I wonder if you can call and ask for “Leroy Jethro Gibbs” or “Tony DiNozzo”?

USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12) - Military Sealift Command — USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12)
– Military Sealift Command

USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) – Ticonderoga-Class Guided Missile Cruiser

USS San Jacinto CG-56 — USS *San Jacinto* (CG-56) – Ticonderoga-Class Cruiser

MH-53E Sea Dragon Buzzed Us From Overhead

As the Sea Dragon buzzed us my navigation system popped up forcing me to ACKNOWLEDGE the fact that there was a “Dangerous Target” nearby. The Helicopter was not alone and there were a pair of jets making that deafening sound that seems to well up from a simple background rumble to a roar.

Jet — McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet – Screeching Across the Sky

I believe that is a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet? Maybe one of our military aficionados will comment if I got any of this incorrect?

Dry dock ship — I Believe this is the Stern of a Amphibious Transport Ship?

Medical Ship — USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) – Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer Alongside The Hospital Ship Comfort

The Hospital Ship Comfort made it’s way down to Puerto Rico as part of the relief efforts.

News Story about Hospital ship and it’s relief efforts.

So after navigating past all the warships and being careful to keep our distance it’s on to the Norfolk International Terminals and the Virginia Port Authority.