Mahi Mahi – Tues May 20th: Coinjock NC to Salt Ponds Marina, Hampton Virginia

Ok kids, this post finally has a little meat to it 😃

Yea, we finally crossed from North Carolina to Virginia !!!
Here is a view after 6 days of travel. So far we have covered about 490 miles, out of our 2200 mile trip.

The trip from the Coinjock Marina to Salt Ponds Marina & Resort, was full of Low Bridges & even our first small Lock. We passed thru 4 low bridges, here is an example below, the Great Bridge Bridge (yes, it’s actually Bridge Bridge). It is a Car Traffic Bridge that is only 8ft above the water when closed, but opens every half hour on request. We had to wait only about 15 minutes, so we tied up the the local dock

Shortly after the Great Bridge Bridge, was the Great Bridge LOCK. They usually place the small locks close to the bridge so that one operator can do double duty, and such that the boats can easily transit as a group thru both the bridge & lock. The Great Bridge Lock was not great, it was only a 2ft lift at this lock. There will be many more Lock stories to come, when we get to the Erie Canal & Trent Severn Waterway. Photo below of the lock doors almost fully closed at tge back of the lock. Note the big rubber bumpers on the lock wall, most locks don’t have this and you have to attach your own fenders to protect the boat. Also notice all the stickers from boats that have passed thru the lock. Jerry & I don’t really like this 😕.

About an hour down the road after small locks, small bridges, and big bridges (145ft), we finally arrived in Norfolk Va. Here is a long series of photos of what we saw during the cruise thru Norfolk.

After traveling thru Norfolk, we finally stuck our bow into the lower end of the massive Chesapeak Bay. With water everywhere you can see, it looked like we were heading out into the ocean. The red triangle just north of Norfolk is our current location.

Our first endeavor in The Chesapeake was just a toe tap. We were at the end of a 65 mile day, so we settled in at Hampton Virginia, at the very SW end of Chesapeake.

We are at a place called Salt Ponds Marina & Resort. Jonell & I stayed here in 2018. It’s a beautiful place with GREAT coverage from wind and storms from all directions. It is our first Marina on the trip with a Pool. But we came here mainly to hunker down for a couple days due to very intense wind & rain. The day we arrived was nice, but we arrived late, and it is pouring rain today, so no Pool for us at this stop.

While we were up at the pool, we began a conversation with a very nice guy, and then found out that he was the owner of Salt Ponds Marina. His name is Gene.

Salt Ponds owner Gene McKay bought the place about 13 years ago, as a young 42 year old man from California. He could not afford Calif, so emptied his 401k to fund the purchase of about 40% of the marina. He currently owns 90% of the marina, with the other 10% of the slips being owned by private owners (dockominiums). At the ripe old age of 55, Gene is ready to explore other adventures, and currently has the Salt Ponds Marina up for sale. About an hour after our discussion with Gene, he stopped by the boat to drop off some welcome gifts. Note – Jerry was here long ago and still had an old Salt Ponds drink koozie.

So it was the end of another day of adventure, and it was once again Tequila time. But the bad news is that I brought 3 bottles of tequila for a 6 week trip, and one bottle was gone yesterday, after 6 days 🙃.

It appears that I am not the only person on board moving at a fast place with safe arrival drinks. 2- Bottles Tequila, 1- bottle Margarita Mix, 1- Bottle of OJ, 10 – Beers, and one Bottle of Wine. 😃 😊 😀

Thanks for reading the long post.

Mike, Deena, & Jerry