Passed Bunny C pushing this huge crane
You can barely make out the tow behind the barge.We are traveling the Elizabeth River to the Chesapeake Bay. Once we reach the Bay, we stay to the west of the major ship channel. Our destination today is Dozier's Regatta Marina in Deltaville, VA. I tried to show our track on this map. It's not a nav chart but gives a general idea of our travels.
Norfolk waterfront
Norfolk skyline on the left, Portsmouth on the right
Cargo ships rafted together.
Not exactly sure what the Hawaii Superferry is doing in Norfolk. It's a long way from home.We passed several Naval ships and at least one aircraft carrier. When transiting this area, boats are to keep at least 500 yards from Navy ships and proceed at slow speed. Patrol boats are all around keeping the perimeter strictly enforced.
A couple of cargo ships passing each other off our port side in the Chesapeake.The water was a moderate chop, but not an issue.
Our camera battery died so need to recharge.
One of our waypoints is Wolf Trap Light. I just assumed it would be a lighted buoy, but it is actually a caisson lighthouse. Wikipedia gave the description as a superstructure that rests on a concrete or metal retaining, watertight structure. Another example would be the foundations of a bridge pier. These types of lighthouses were developed in the late nineteenth century as a cheaper, more efficient alternative to screwpile lighthouses which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. Some caisson lighthouses were made of cast iron although some brick examples are found as is this one.
In 1870 a screwpile lighthouse was constructed on a hexagonal foundation, the house being prefabricated at the station at Lazzaretto Point in Baltimore. This light survived until 1893, when ice tore the house from its foundation. The keeper was able to escape, but the house was found floating far to the south at Thimble Shoals, where the lantern and lens were recovered.
A lighthouse tender was put on station to serve as a temporary lightship and a request was put to Congress to appropriate funds for a caisson structure. LV-46, assigned to tend the station, suffered a boiler casualty August 28, 1893, killing two of the crew, and was replaced by LV-97 until March 16, 1884 when LV-46 could return to the station.
Construction began and was completed during 1894; a wooden caisson was used, topped by a cylinder of cast iron plates. The house itself was built of brick, painted red in the late 1920s, standing two stories with the lantern on its roof. Unlike the Maryland examples, the roof is flat. Quantities of rip-rap were dumped around the base of the light to resist pressure from the ice.
Complaints about the visibility of the original fixed light led to a change to a flashing characteristic in 1895. Automation came in 1971. A 300mm acrylic lens was installed in 1984, to be replaced with the current VRB-25 (12-volt rotating beacon) in 1996. A set of black plywood blinds is installed in the lantern to block stray reflections from the panes.
Wolf Trap Light was offered to non-profit and historical organizations in 2004 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. As no applications were received, it was put up for auction in 2005. Nick Korstad, of Seattle, Washington, purchased the station, and was unable to obtain financing for his plan to convert the light into a bed and breakfast, and after an unsuccessful attempt to auction the light on E-bay, it was sold privately again. The light was bought by James Southard, Jr. for $119,000 and remains active.
Probably more than you wanted to know about it, but I thought it was cool. First one I'd ever seen.
Our route took us into the Rappahannock River. We turned off into Broad Creek to make our way to Dozier's Regatta Marina.
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