M/V Nearly Perfect: May 22-23, 2017

We left Coinjock around 7:45 for a cloudy, cool day on the water. When we hit Norfolk, the scenery completely changed. There is a large Navy base here (where Jack was stationed) and the waterway is lined with huge Navy ships and many industrial barges. It's quite intimidating from our boat. We arrived at Tidewater Marina around 2:00 and just got settled in when a thunderstorm hit. It was the most rain we had seen in a long time. Late in the afternoon, after the rain stopped, Kim and David (Skinnydipper), who were anchored outside the marina, dinghied over for some docktails. After that we had a nice quiet dinner on the boat. We got up Tuesday and walked around the historic district of Portsmouth (in a light rain) and then later took a water taxi to the new Waterside area across the river in Norfolk, which turned out to just be a bunch of restaurants. We met Ed and Joan (Dolce Vita) and toured the Nauticus Museum which housed the Battleship Wisconsin. The museum and the battleship were very interesting. Since we are now in the area of historic museums, this was the first of many that we will visit along the way. The Wisconsin was commissioned in 1944 and served in WWII, the Korean war, and Desert Storm. The flight deck is 3 football fields in length. It was very interesting walking around the flight deck, touring the crew quarters, and all the other types of personnel stationed on a large battleship. This was quite a day for walking -- my fitbit measured 17,300 steps and 6.9 miles (and most of that was in the cold with a light rain). We said goodbye to Ed and Joan and got back to the boat just before a heavy rain started.