Hospital Point Anchorage Portsmouth VA

The local guys were already on the Portsmouth park benches when we woke at the Olde Towne free docks. Dave ran the engine to charge Mystic's batteries then sat in the park and used one of the public electrical outlets to charge his Ryobi rechargeable batteries. We use the batteries to keep fans going but they also power Dave's cordless tools. The park has free charging stations for visitors to use. It's nice, especially since there is no electric hookup at the dock for visiting boats to tie into.

We made the move from the Portsmouth free docks to the Hospital Point anchorage in the afternoon. Peter and Trudi were already sitting on the hook. They invited us to dinner aboard Andromeda Sol. On our dinghy ride over, we took a detour to the Norfolk side of the Elizabeth River and motored around the USS Wisconsin battleship museum at a pier that was once a free a free dock for transient cruisers. Dave was living at this dock aboard our 23 foot sailboat in 1982 when I met him. He worked on the refurbishing of the Hotel Madison, a magnificent historic building which is now condos. The Norfolk downtown has been revitalized several times since we lived there. One thing we've learned over and over on this journey; change is a constant thing!

Norfolk Virginia Waterfront

American Rover at Norfolk Harbor

American Rover

Wooden Schooner Virginia

Downtown Norfolk view from the harbor

The Virginia docked in Norfolk

The Virginia

Wooden Schooner Virginia

The Virginia

USS Wisconsin Museum

Mermaids guarding the USS Wisconsin

The USS Wisconsin fills the old free docks at Norfolk

USS Wisconsin Warship Museum

USS Wisconsin

Hospital at Hospital Point

Welcome to Norfolk

We enjoyed a wonderful evening aboard Andromeda Sol, chatting with Peter and Trudi, sharing photos of our adventures and watching the activity along the Elizabeth River. Peter made a delicious homemade pizza. We watched the schooner, American Rover, cruise by. It was after midnight by the time we got back to Mystic. Time got away from us! By far, this is our latest night out on our looping adventure.

As we said goodnight to our friends aboard Andromeda Sol, we made plans to reconnect at Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey. Peter and Trudi will head offshore in a week or so while we take the inside route up the Chesapeake Bay to the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal. We'll have very different experiences and a lot to talk about once we meet again.