Cross the Chesapeake Bay at night, yikes...

vabeach1234 · Post by **vabeach1234** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:48 am

Well I had the bright idea to break in spring with a trip to the concrete ships at Kiptopeke this past Saturday Night 4/18/09. The forecast called for southwest and south winds 5 to 10. Perfect for the concrete ships to block the wind. We left Little Creek, Norfolk, a little before 5:00 pm on Saturday. Dropped anchor at 6:30ish.

The winds at the concrete ships didn't read the same forecast that I read. They were more southeast and coming right up the shore line so there was no protection. We ate dinner, played some cards and decided to try and get some sleep. 10 minutes of rocking and the waves pounding the side of the boat, we decided to pull up anchor and head home. At 10:45pm we left the concrete ships. We stayed at 8 kts and used a spot light to look for crab pots. We headed out perpendicular to the shore line to avoid all the net pilings and shoals along the shore. We then got to the channel and headed straight for the Chesaepeake Bay bridge tunnel still at 8 kts. Once we got to the bridge we went between the bridges and used the lights along the bridge to guide us home on plane. We finally made it to the first small boat channel and hung a right and went back to the 8 kts and spot light combo toward the little creek entrance. We pulled in to the slip at 1:00 am, tied up the boat and went to sleep. It was a 18 mile run from the norfolk to kiptopeake and a 22 mile run back. What an experience.

Boat ran great, but the captain's tired. Next time, I'm gonna wait for 5kts or less wind before going to the concrete ships, or better yet, head up into Broad Bay in the Lynnhaven to anchor out.

Ken
1972 Trojan Express Hardtop F-26

randyp · Post by **randyp** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:35 am

Good testimonial for the F-26. Glad you made it back without any incidents. We've been caught in some pretty heavy weather even though we're "just" on a lake. The winds really can howl off the Adirondacks and the lake is shallow so it's not uncommon to get 3-4' chop in a blow. Our F-26 handles it well on anything but downwind where that short rudder doesn't overcome a tendency to yaw.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:11 pm

You should have run in to Cape Charles for the night.

vabeach1234 · Post by **vabeach1234** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:32 pm

I thought about Cape Charles but was worried that about the entry at Plantation Light. It's tricky enough during the day. I've been into Cape Charles about 4 times before but during the day and didn't want to mess with unfamiliar range markers at night. Kiptapeake is about half way between cape chales and the bridge so I opted for what I was familiar with. I'm familiar with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel because of all the time's i'm out there at night during Striper season. My biggest concern was getting to the bridge. After that, I knew I could make it from there. Next time, I think I'll plan on not pushing it by arriving so late in the day, that way we can leave earlier to make it home and still make it feel like we made a trip.

guglielmo6160 · Post by **guglielmo6160** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:52 pm

ok, what are concrete ships?

vabeach1234 · Post by **vabeach1234** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:00 pm

Here's a little history lesson.

They were made to save on steel during WWII. Then sunk to be a break water for the ferry before the CBBT was built. Pretty cool site to see. Check out the links below.

http://www.concreteships.org/ships/kiptopeke/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmEA9RFNy8w

gjrylands · Post by **gjrylands** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:16 am

vabeach1234 wrote:Here's a little history lesson.

They were made to save on steel during WWII. Then sunk to be a break water for the ferry before the CBBT was built. Pretty cool site to see. Check out the links below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmEA9RFNy8w

I think the guy in the video needs a biger boat!