Day 66: Norfolk, VA to Deltaville, VA

We departed beautiful downtown Norfolk at 9:00am and hope to return again soon. We idled past the USS Wisconsin for the last time then motored past an incredible number of destroyers, cruisers, support ships and two large aircraft carriers. This is the largest collection of US warships on the East Coast.

Missing from the docked fleet were submarines which we have seen berthed there in the past. In no time we were out of the harbor and heading east to clear some shoals on the west side of the bay.

Once we were in open water and after rounding The Horseshoe Reef marker we turned north. It wasn't long until the wind kicked up to 15-18 knots from the SSW. The seas were on our port quarter and running 2'-3'. This of course is one of the most difficult points of sail to be steering in a single- engine powerboat, but we were able to hold our course with some concentration within 5 to 8 degrees.

Far ahead, coming out of the York River we saw the beautiful gray outline of a graceful warship. She was slowly making her way down the shipping channel, probably on a training exercise. We came with 1,000 yards of her and could see crew on the foredeck.    

The rest of the voyage was uneventful.  We passed a number of sailboats both on the wind and broad reaching. The entrance to Deltaville appears tricky on the chart, but is well marked. We refueled and pumped out at Deltaville Marina, then tied up right outside the Annapolis Yacht Sales office for the night. The Greatest Loop will be open for viewing all day Saturday, August 31.