Dawn on Monday, June 30

This morning, Eric went to a hydraulic service center near downtown Norfolk, which was southeast of where we were in Little Creek, to buy the proper size fittings for the new transfer pump. Eric wasn’t happy with the selection, so he went to another store in Portsmouth with better selection. Little Creek was surprisingly far from downtown Norfolk, and downtown Portsmouth was surprisingly close to Downtown Norfolk, though to get there, he had to take a toll tunnel under the Elizabeth River. When he got back to Kosmos, he went to work on replacing the transfer pump. Much to his chagrin, the fittings were the right size, but were the wrong configuration for the space it needed to go into. Since he had to go back to Portsmouth to exchange the fittings anyways, we made plans to meet some people over there.

We have another friend who moved to Virginia, Ed. Ed lived a couple of hours away from Norfolk, so Portsmouth was a tad bit shorter of a drive for him. He met us for lunch in Portsmouth, at a Thai restaurant in the Town Square, which was the heart of historic Portsmouth.

It was next to the Children’s museum and catty corner to the Portsmouth Visitor’s Center.

The food was surprisingly authentic. While the visit with Ed was nice, it was short.

Ed had a long drive back home and needed to leave as soon as we were done eating. Ed, we really appreciate you driving so far to see us! We’d made plans to meet a cruiser family that was currently anchored in Portsmouth at 1500, so we had time to kill. Our first priority was to find dessert. We found a cheesecake bakery a half block west. The cheesecake was fabulous. Sadly, most of the stores in between the restaurant and bakery were vacant.

After dessert, we went back to the Visitor’s Center. When we’d arrived in Virginia, we knew we wanted to see some historic sites, but quite frankly, there were so many that we were overwhelmed by the choices. The lady at the Visitor’s Center was helpful in clarifying what was in the area so that we could better decide what we wanted to visit.

She also gave us a lot of information about Portsmouth. It was founded by William Crawford, who in 1752 gave 65-acres of a plantation that he owned to create the new city. She said it was one of the most “authentic” historical cities in the area since it had never been burned down during the wars. Many of the buildings original from the 1700s.

After the Visitor’s Center, Christi wanted to do the Old Towne walking tour. Eric and Keith strongly vetoed that, arguing that it was too hot to be walking around. We compromised and drove around.

After a quick tour of the area, we went to marine store that sold Victron components, located a block east of the Thai restaurant, near the High Street Ferry Landing. Once Eric had finished at the store, we tried to go to the Naval Ship Museum, which was at the ferry landing, but it was only open on Fridays and Saturdays. Portsmouth has a ferry service that goes across the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Portsmouth several times a day. We believe the ferry is either free or low cost, but either way, it was cheaper to take the ferry between Norfolk and Portsmouth than it is to pay the tolls. The ferry began in 1636 and was America’s first ferry service! The initial ferry service was someone hand rowing people across the river in a skiff, but eventually rowboats and barges replaced the skiff. The building the Naval Ship Museum was in was built in 1919 as a maintenance building for the ferry service.

The current ferry landing building was just across the little inlet of the ferry landing. Dinghies were allowed to dock in the inlet for free, and it was where we were meeting the cruising family.

Being a natural deep water port, Portsmouth quickly became an important port for naval and merchant ships. Several pivotal events happened in Portsmouth that helped the Patriots win the War of Independence. Portsmouth was home to the US’s oldest and largest naval ship yard. The first dry dock in the country opened here in 1833, and was still in use today. Portsmouth was halfway between Miami and Maine, and was mile-marker 0 for the ICW. From the ferry landing, we could see several military ships.

We tried to go to the Lightship Portsmouth Museum, which was a half-block north, but it was also only open on Fridays and Saturdays. The ship was built in 1915 and was in service for 50-years.

We still had time to kill. Eric and Keith decided to spend their time sitting on a bench near the dinghy landing. Christi walked northeast along Water Street and the waterfront up to the marina. Christi was struck by the juxtaposition of modern high-rises next to relatively small buildings built in the 1700s. There were several commemorative plaques along the way.

From the marina, she turned around and headed back via Crawford street.

We’d met the family through one of the digital apps that connect cruiser families with kids, which in a lot of ways felt much the same as a dating app. The family was really nice. We walked over to a nearby park and hung out in the shade under the big trees. There was a nice breeze, so it was quite pleasant at that spot despite it being such a hot day.

We visited for about an hour and a half, then we decided we should get on the road before traffic got too bad. BTW, Eric had forgotten the fittings that needed to be exchanged, so we didn’t go back to the hydraulic store on the way home, as we’d originally planned. The sunset was blocked by low atmospheric clouds.