[peterv]

We''re sailing south offshore, and will be entering the mouth of the chesapeake to cruise north. Where is the nearest (to Cape Charles) place to drop the hook? We draw 5''. I''m under the impression we need to sail over one of the tunnels, or is there a part of the bridge with 52'' clearance?

 

[HerbDB]

I don''t have my charts here, but coming from the south the closest entrance is through one of the tunnel gaps in the bridge. We stayed at one of the marina''s on Little Creek just west of the bridge tunnel. Several nice places there, but not enough room to anchor. Close to Norfolk Airport and short taxi ride to shopping. If you are interested in anchoring, you can proceed furthur west and anchor near Hampton Roads or Norfolk. There are secure anchorages on either side just inside the tunnel between the two. Another option is going north along the eastern shore to Tipokipi State Park (not sure if the spelling is correct). They sunk a row of WWI ships, filled them with concrete to create a breakwater that is now a state park. If you go there, I recommend anchoring close to shore to stay out of the current as much as possible. We had an anchor drag in the middle of the night during a storm on our last stay. Please feel free to ask if you have other questions.

We keep our boat on the upper Chesapeake and took a trip around the DelMarVa Penninsula last summer. Went up the C&D canal, out the Delaware, offshore to Cape Charles and reentered the bay at Norfolk.

Herb DuBois