Sunday 10/15/2017 - Portsmouth to Great Bridge VA

After filling the water tanks and bottles, disposing of trash and, in general, getting the boat ready to move on, we walked into town.  I liked the town but it was "dead" on a Sunday morning.  The first restaurant opened at 10 and we were ready go in.  We had a nice breakfast off their brunch menu. The people in the town were very friendly. I had wanted to go to the Maritime Museum but it was closed for renovations.  There was a very attactrive nautical antique shop but it was closed for the day.  On the way back to the boat, we stopped along the docks to admire some of the schooners that were there.   It turned out that the Great Schnooner Race had just finished at 1am that morning when the schooner Virgina crossed the finish line near Portsmouth.  The race (starting at the Bay Bridge off Annapolis) had started at 1:30pm the afternoon before.  So what took us 6 days took the schooners (at least the winner Virginia) just under 12 hours.  We saw Brilliance (almost identical to the Woodwinds) come in and Virginia and the Pride of Baltimore were already docked.  So, at around 1pm, we were out of things to do and decided to head out.  We set out to make it to the Great Bridge Lock before 4pm but when we got to the Glimmerton lift bridge, we found around 15 large sail and power boats anchored out waiting for the bridge to open.  Those closest to the bridge may have been there all day.  The problem with anchoring was that the Elizebeth River is fairly deep in that area.  About 45 minutes after we anchored, they announced over the VHF that they would be opening shortly and the mad rush began to pull up anchors and get through the bridge before they had some excuse to close it again.  So, the procession began - the 15 or so in front of us and the 10 or so behind.   Fortunately, most cruisers kept their places in line and didn't try moving to the front of the line.  Before getting to Great Bridge, there was one other bridge delay and then there was a 40 minute delay for the lock to open.  We entered and stayed to starboard which has rubber bumpers.  The lock only raises the water 2 or 3 feet. After leaving the lock to tied up to the free dock between the lock and the Breat Bridge Bridge.  We did a little socializing with other cruisers and then walked into town for dinner at Panera and a trip to the grocery store.  We got back to the boat around 9pm and showered off the back of the boat.  It was a long day and I didn't get to bed till after midnight.