“The Chesapeake Bay is America’s largest estuary. Nearly two hundred miles long, its watershed covers an area of sixty-five thousand utopian square miles with more than a hundred and fifty rivers and streams barreling into it. It’s also home of myriad bird and aquatic life…”
There is just so much to see, visit and experience in the Chesapeake and its tributaries that it is very difficult for us to pick and choose what we want to see, do and experience before we have to head north to continue our wanderings back to the Midwest.
At the rendezvous we learned that we could see “The Mothball Fleet” or as it is also known “The Ghost Fleet” by travelling up the James River. There is something inherently romantic about a “ghost fleet” of ships and I really wanted to see them. The term “Mothball Fleet” even plays into my knitter’s vocabulary leaving me to conclude that it must be woolly intervention that I see these ships. Captain Mark kindly agreed to indulge my fantasy so we headed out bright and early from Smithfield for our destination of River’s Rest Marina which is located on the Chickahominy River, an off chute of the James River.
This photo was taken while we were still several miles away and was not retouched or enhanced in Photoshop. From this distance, one gets the full effect of the ghost-like feeling of these ships. 
Known officially as National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF), these ships are managed by the US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration and are a different entity from the US Navy reserve fleet which is mostly warships. The NDRF consists of mostly merchant vessels that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to assist the US during national emergencies either military or non-military. The vessels with military utility or logistic value are held in retention status and are in a preservation program that is designed to keep them in the same condition as when they originally entered the fleet. Controlling the corrosion of metal and the growth of mold or mildew is done by a dehumidification of the internal spaces of each vessel. External painting and other cosmetic-appearance work is generally deferred since it is not critical to the ability to activate and operate the vessel. This lack of exterior painting is what gives the illusion and feeling of a “ghost ship”.
Protecting the fleet are several helicopters from Fort Eustis that continuously hover and roam the nearby skies. Once again, I was able to capture a photo of “them” taking a picture of ‘us”.
Hours on the water: 6.25
Nautical miles traveled: 44.2
Number of bridges to be opened: 0
Time spent waiting at bridge: 0
Next Destination: Norfolk
What we are listening to: Finished Columbine by Dave Cullen & started Divine Justice by David Baldacci
Lesson for the day: You can see some ghosts during daylight
Obligatory knitting report: Blue/black/gray striped socks for Captain Mark
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