Take 2: Norfolk We left Ellis’s dock on Thursday morning (July 31) hoping to make progress towards the entrance of the ICW (intracoastal waterway); which begins in Norfolk, VA. It was a pretty long trip; about 40 miles and we had so-so wind and weather. We sailed for about an hour, and motor sailed the rest of the way.

We decided to hold off on going downtown right off the bat, and rather anchored out for the night (about 8 miles from city-proper) to rest and reboot. Plus the anchorage was right next to the Atlantic Coast Navy Base. How cool is that?!? We actually got to watch A10’s, F-18’s, Chinook & Blackhawk Helicopters, Battle ships and Naval Carriers. Though it was kind of noisy, it was so cool to watch all these things in action. The only real downfall was the excruciating heat…another of the HOTTEST days we have experienced on the boat. OH yeah and we were completely out of fresh food. We actually had to resort to dehydrated camp meals for dinner, but both Jake and I actually really enjoyed them!

The following morning, we moved Bosco down to Portsmouth, VA (which is just across the river from Norfolk). The journey was a short one, only taking us about an hour and a half but it was kind of tense. Our route took us through a very large and busy channel; Huge working boats, a Navy submarine (though we just missed it) and a huge 800-foot freighter boat passed us by which was really cool to see – kinda scary since we’d never been so close to anything so large before. I was sure the wakes would knock us over, but they weren’t bad at all 🙂

We left early enough to land at the free dock before 11AM. It was nuzzled in-between a tall apartment building and a big Renaissance hotel. The dock is first-come-first-serve, and only had one other sailboat parked, so we easily fit. The public ferry boat that runs between Norfolk and Portsmouth was right next to us, but it wasn’t a big deal. And it was our first time in a downtown setting on the boat; totally weird.

Now that we’re in the ‘big city’, what should we do? Well, that was pretty clear; we needed groceries! Jake made his way to the visitor center to pick up a map of the area. We discovered there was a pretty convenient store about a mile away. The walk would do us good. It was hot though. We winded through historic Portsmouth for the first several blocks, which was super cute! It had a great vibe and we love the old charm of buildings and cobblestone streets; like walking back in time. But then we ventured back into a normal city and kicked up our pace a bit. It only took us about 30 minutes to walk to the store but we were soaked with sweat by the time we got there.

This was our first attempt planning in the food department. We actually had a shopping list (rather than winging it like normal). Figured it would be a good test for the next few days. Our goal was to stock up on just enough food so we don’t have to think about meals. We wanted to get through the 200-mile portion over the next 4-5 days; so hopefully life will be slightly easier.

We walked back to the boat and were pretty hot, sweaty and tired. Even the short trips wear us down! But we had lots of fresh food so Jake made us a great lunch while I cleaned up the cockpit. We chatted a bit with the fellow sailboater who was parked at the dock. He was a cool guy; we were shocked to learn he was in his mid-60’s; he seemed like a 40-year old. But he had a great attitude and an adorable puppy and lots of great tips for us when we go to the Bahamas this winter. So fun to meet other people living this type of life!

We also were approached by a ton of random who were curious about us and our boat; It was like we were on display.

We decided to hit up Norfolk for the rest of the afternoon. The ferry was next-door so we took a ride to explore the city and possibly catch a flick and grab some grub – almost like a date. An urban date (sort of). The waterfront was beautiful…no…better than that…it was gorgeous! Everything was impeccably maintained and the architecture was really stunning and super modern. The weirdest thing is that it had such a big-city feel but there were only a few people out and about. We had the place to ourselves!

We found a movie theater in a big mall, and were excited to see that MI-5 was playing. It was an awesome relaxing reprieve in the a/c and cold beverage/popcorn snack is always fun for us (becoming our go-to thing to do when we are on-land). Afterwards, we walked around a bit more discovering some really cute restaurants. We decided to check one out Field Guide. It was so nice to have a delicious, fresh, organic meal prepared for us for a change. We indulged on yellow curry with veggies and whitefish/shrimp on rice followed by a homemade oatmeal cream pie. We were stuffed to the brim and so happy after that.

It was an awesome day and we managed to see a ton of stuff in the short time we were in Norfolk/Portsmouth. That night we lounged in the cockpit enjoying the night-lights of the city. There were also about 300 birds hanging out right behind us – that was wacky! It felt great to live as normal humans do for a day but we were really looking forward to the next several days of passage making too.