Willoughby Boat Ramp - Norfolk, VA

[allingeneral]

Anyone ever launch at Willoughby ramp at the south end of the Hampton Roads Bridge/Tunnel (HRBT)? What is parking like there on a normal summer weekend? Is it impossible to park - do I have to get the early? Any info would be great.

[allingeneral]

Got to the ramp at approximately 10:30 Saturday morning. Plenty of parking available at that time. Launched the boat and headed for Nauticus. Was a good trip! After Nauticus, we rode out a storm at NYCC on the Lafayette River, then headed to Virginia Beach.

The ride to Va Beach was a pretty long one. I think it took us about 2.5 hours to get there from NYCC. The ride past HRBT and CBBT wasn't too bad. The Atlantic coast was a little more frothed up than expected. We finally pulled into Rudee inlet at around 18:30 - maybe 19:00. I had called ahead on the cell phone to see if fuel would be available when we got there. Spoke with someone at Fisherman's Wharf. They were very kind and said that although they were preparing to close up for the evening - they said someone would be there to refuel us. After arriving and refueling, we were also able to pick up a slip for overnight at the marina. I was very happy with the service at Fisherman's Wharf and offer my sincere thanks to those folks for helping out one of the "little guys".

Stayed overnight and got underway at about 7:45am Sunday morning, headed back to Willoughby. The Atlantic coast was pretty calm this morning and the kids were very excited to see some dolphins! After turning the corner and heading inland, the west wind coming straight down the James River made for a slow ride against the wind back up to HRBT. We averaged about 12 knots with the nose in the air and made it to the ramp at about 11:30.

Was a very exciting trip in our little 22-foot cuddy cabin. I definitely need to get a bigger boat! Now that I checked the box "Traveled down the Bay to Va Beach", the next trip to Va Beach will be a launch at the aquarium or somewhere else in Rudee.