Riverwalk Landing Marina, Yorktown, Virginia

As we left Portsmouth this morning, we travelled past many boatyards, including many military boatyards. We did notice one area that seemed to have patrol boats around it, we thought it would not be a good idea to approach too closely.  Just after we passed that area, we heard Warship 59 calling on the radio saying that they were coming out of the pier. Then they started calling specific boats in front of or near where they needed to go asking them to stop to let the warship pass. We were by then ahead of the warship, so did not have to change our route. Exited the Elizabeth River and entered Chesapeake Bay. The Bay was choppy, not bad to travel on. We needed to go only a few miles on the Bay, then we turned up the York River to get to Yorktown. Spent the afternoon touring Yorktown; they have a free trolley that takes you around town. We got off at the Yorktown Colonial National Historical Park, which is the place where Cornwallis surrendered in the Revolutionary War. The guide gave a really good history of the events leading up to the surrender. Cornwallis (British) had been fighting in the south, decided (against orders) to come up to Virginia to join forces with some other British troops. He was then ordered to establish a port on the lower Chesapeake, which he did here at Yorktown. The American and French troops surrounded the British on two sides, the other two sides were against the river. Cornwallis had several ships, which he sank in the river to ensure that the enemy would not have access to them. Once it became obvious that the British were losing, they tried to escape across the river in rowboats; a huge storm came up just then and many were drowned. Cornwallis was forced to surrender, and that effectively was the end of the war. Therefore the battle here at Yorktown is seen as pivotal to the beginning of Americal as a country and ultimately a world leader.

The naval yards are well patrolled; recreational boaters will not make a wrong turn.

Our guide at the National Historic Park

The Yorktown Victory Monument commemorates allied (American and French) victory over Cornwallis

The cave where Cornwallis established his headquarters just prior to his surrender.

It poured rain during our tour so didn't go out to see the battlefield.  Came back to the boat and made a shared dinner with Gloria from Crawdad. After dinner, walked up to Ben and Jerry's for ice cream. Big storm with thunder and lightening, lots of rain as I'm writing this. Glad we are safely tied up to a dock. We plan to go to Deltaville tomorrow.

Military yards as we were passing

Navy boats, patrol boats, and navy helicopters flying over.