Back River nr Langley AFB VA USA

For some reason, Tuesday 29 October was a day of no photos.  We left Chris and Bill’s dock at 11am to head south towards Norfolk.  A passage which was spoilt to a degree by the complete lack of wind.

Norfolk is about 60 miles from the entrance to the Piankatank River and Queen Creek, which was a little far to go in the available daylight.  So, instead of arriving after dark, we elected to head into Back River close to Langley Air Force Base.

We knew that we were close to an Air Force base because we were constantly being overflown by fast jets. So, our only concern about the choice of anchorage was that we might be kept awake all night if the jets had a night flying programme.

North End Point on the southern entrance to Back River

To minimise any wasted transit time, Nicky had picked out an anchorage just behind North End Point on the southern entrance to Back River.  This looked a bit wild and rugged on the chart but as we rounded the point we saw that there was good shelter and it seemed perfect for what we needed for a night stop.

It was low water as we arrived so we watched the depth gauge very carefully as we turned into the marked channel.  Just as well as it turned out, because the channel had silted up more than the chart suggested so we gently ran aground on our way in.  Nicky motored us back and we tried another line but it was clear that we would have to wait for more of a tidal rise to get into the channel.  All the while we had jets that had just taken off from Langley AFB noisily zipping over our heads, but taking photographs didn’t really seem to be a priority with the depth gauge reading less than our draught!

Messick Point in the Back River

With the light failing fast and an early start planned we didn’t want to be trapped in the anchorage behind the point so instead we headed a mile further into Back River and anchored behind Messick Point.

Langley AFB was the nearest piece of land behind us

That put us even closer to the airfield but it turned out that we had a very quiet night there as there was no night flying.  Despite the mini drama it was actually a really pleasant anchorage and one worth remembering when we are next in this area.

Dawn anchored in the Back River behind Messick Point

Back River nr Langley AFB, Virginia, USA