>>>>> Port of Call <<<<<
The Ships and Boats calling upon the Chesapeake Bay's Ports and Harbors
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Aircraft over Virginia Beach
I've been photographing most everything that catches my eye for a loooong time now--more than 40 years! I couldn't help but notice the shipping coming and going from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, anchoring off 'tanker row' and sooner or later fading into the distance as each makes it's way to yet another port of call.
I come down to Chics Beach twice a day, taking my loving black lab, Onyx, for long walks--around sun rise and again about sunset.
I percieve something different even when photographing the same ships I photographed yesterday, the day before and the day before that...lighting, atmosphere, cloud cieling and weather conditions all contribute to each images' unique qualities.
I presnt here the better of my efforts, and hope that visitors to my site here will appreciate both the efforts I've taken and the results of my efforts, shown here for the first time...
Thanks, Stone
A simple call to 804 815-4141 is all it takes to have me show up to shoot pics of YOU doing your kiteboarding-thing in Virginia beach!
Serene at anchor, mists obscuring her, shrouding her presence in some romantic mystery of whence she came, where she will next sail to--to what exotic ports of call has she been?
Beyond the horizon a cargo ship passes by the vacation-pleasures of parasailing over the mouth of the bay...
Plying her trade--a gill netter rides the ocean swells of early morning, her hold filled with ice and the day's catch, soon bound for market
SEAL craft returning to Rudee Inlet from maneuvers. SEALs are amongst the most capable and well-trained of warriors known to the world today.
Dawns' light brings a ruddy hue to faded bottom paint as another day begins...
US Navy ships such as the destroyer USS MAHAN DDG 72 ply the waters of the ocean and bay in constant watchfulness over us all--God bless OUR Navy!
Millions of tons of cargo exit and enter the Chesapeake Bay each week--where is this cargoship's next port of call to be?
It thrills me to watch submarines come and go--ever since one surfaced almost next to me as I was 'enduring' my swimming lessons at age 6 on the York River, these craft and the men who crew them have fascinated me ever since...
Hull gleaming in the rays of the setting sun, her sleek, beautiful lines and majestic size inspire awe...
USNS Big Horn (T-AO-198)a Fleet Replenishment Oiler--I see her coming and going from time to time, amazed by the array of cranes and hoisting gear she carries.
The USS LDH-1 Wasp, named for her forebearer, the USS Wasp, CV-7, of WWII fame, rides the low swells at sunset just inside of the Eastern Shore's Fisherman Island.
The USS GUNSTON HALL (LSD 44) passing through the channel close by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, heading for open sea and ???
The USS Wasp, LDH-1, off the beachfront at 76th Street, heads for open water, and ???
This pound net, figuring prominently in many of my photographs, is worked by it's owners for the Blues, Croaker, Sea Trout, and in their season, the Rockfish that abound here
The complexities of running such a vessel elude me, of course, but the grandure and spectacle of modern ships like her is emotionally stirring nonetheless
Here and above, USS Nashville LPD-13, under tow by the USNS Apache T-ATF-172, Decommissioned Sept 30th, she served our Navy for 39 years...
Sea birds, ever-watchful of all that comes and goes from bay waters, content themselves with the fish at hand in this pound net--a smorgasbord of delights, no doubt
The USS Nicholas FFG-47, dwarfing a pleasure boat at its port-side, approaches the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
The sun sets on the Peruvian Countess, riding at anchor on tanker row, awaiting her turn to be laden with oil and to begin yet another journey across the globes' oceans.
Silhouetted agains a crimson and purpled sky, one cannot but help imagine what other, more distant and perhaps more exotic sunsets, she has seen
The destroyer USS BARRY DDG-52 slips out of the Chesapeake Bay in early morning hours, sunlight glinting off her "A" turret and superstructure, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel fading into the background...
Returning home after patrol-duties far from home port, a submarine slips past the entrance of the bay and into home waters once again...
A Navy Hovercraft skims over the bay's waters at speed, a charging juggernaught in hands trained to fight for our way of life!
Her hull formed of contortions I cannot imagine a vessel possessing, this ship, unknown to me, yet displays grace and pride in her lines
A sailboat rides calmly just after sunrise outside the mouth of the bay--where wilst thou goest this new day dawning?
A spectacular view from the oceanfront's 84th Street beach, beach-goers and ship seem but mere yards apart...
Two Tankers at anchor--the world comes to our doorstep...
USS NEW YORK (LPD-21), here and below, conducts helicopter-payload exercises off Chics beach. She is constructed in part, of material salvaged from New Yorks' Twin Towers, destroyed in terrorist attacks on 9-11. Built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, The USS New York will be commissioned November 7th in New York, near where the Twin Towers once stood. Her motto is "Never Forget", and We Will Not Forget!
As a foot note, a helicopter generates an electrical charge that is lethal IF discharged through contact with the helicopter before it lands. A reach-pendant, developed by Ocean Products Research in Diggs, Va, prevents this danger by offering an insulated tube with rope loops at each end--one for connection to the payload, the other to the carrying hook beneath the helicopter. This enables a helicopter to come close enough to the ship's deck to enable payload attachment without risk of contact with the payload crews working the deck, and it speeds the loading process considerably. This same company also produced the droge-lines that deployed the parachutes used in re-entry of the first capsules sent into orbit and recovered at sea AND they supplied a majority of the mine-sweeping cables used in the Gulf War! Diggs, VA and OPR, Inc is in my home county of Mathews
The Virginia Beach Marine Police patrol the beaches for swimmers in distress, drunken ski-do'ers and help to keep this resort city's beaches safe for all
One of my favorite photographs--a gill netter starts his day early. Up before sunrise and on the water well before even I arose, it looks like the coming of a wonderful day to be out on the water!
The Rudee Rocket, a proposed boat for SEAL operations that wasn't quite what they wanted, can hit speeds up to 60mph across the water. Capable of carrying some 50 people or more, the Rudee Rocket is now used for scenic excursions and dolphin-watching
Dwarfing beach-goers, this cruise ship leaves the Chesapeake Bay, a glowing jewel in the afternoon sunlight
The USNS Big Horn T-AO-198 and an unidentified navy ship meet within hailing distance off Chics Beach--scoping out and discussing the bikini's beach-side, perhaps?
Other-worldly and mystical, this is one of my favorite sunrise photographs. I shot this with a red filter and moderate overcast to achieve this spectacular image.
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