Directions, James River, Newport News to City Point, etc.—Continued The northern branch of Appomattox River, entering the main channel at Point of Rocks, has a depth of 7 feet (2.1 m.) at the entrance. There is a farm landing 34 mile above the entrance, at which barges are sometimes loaded. The best water in entering leads 100 feet off Point of Rocks. Petersburg has communication by railroad and by steamboat with Richmond, Hopewell, and Norfolk. All kinds of supplies are obtainable. Ice and freshets do not interfere with navigation. The wharves have available depths of 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m.) A railroad siding, extending for almost the entire length of the wharf front, furnishes a means of transfer between the wharves and the railroads. Bermuda Hundred is a post office on the west bank of James River, 111⁄2 miles above Hopewell. The wharf has depths of 5 to 9 feet (1.5 to 2.7 m.). A flashing white light is shown from the outer end. Opposite Bermuda Hundred is Shirley Wharf and post office. Hardens Wharf, on the east bank, 214 miles above Bermuda Hundred, is a lumber shipping point. There are several farm wharves between Hardens Wharf and Richmond but no villages. The shores are generally wooded on both sides and present no characteristic features. Curles Swamp Creek, on the west side, 6 miles above Hopewell, has a depth of 1 foot (0.3 m.) at the entrance and deeper water inside. Presque Isle is a small group of houses at the neck of Turkey Island where the land is about 20 feet above ordinary high water. Woodson Rock is bare at low water, and the Woodson Rock Range leads clear of it. The range shows through a narrow opening in the trees, on top of a bluff. Meadowville is a farm near the Woodson Rock Range Lights and has a wharf in poor condition. No boats land there. Dutch Gap Canal is a short artificial cut 16 miles above Hopewell and 13 miles below Richmond. The southwest side of the canal is marked by a light and a monument. A prominent white house stands near the monument. Richmond, at the head of navigation on the James River, has considerable trade in regular steamers and barges, the deepest draft being 18 feet (5.5 m.), and the usual draft not over 16 feet (4.8 m.). It is connected with Norfolk and intermediate points and New York by steamers. The general cargo for Richmond is handled in the basin of the former James River & Kanawha Canal, known as the Richmond City Dock, which has a depth of 15 feet (4.5 m.). It is open to the public. The dock is 3,450 feet long and entered from the river by a masonry lock, lift of 15 feet (4.5 m.) The lock chamber is 168 feet long and 352 feet wide. The other wharves in Richmond are on both banks of the river below the lock. They have from 10 to 16 feet (3 to 4.8 m.) of water alongside. The principal products handled by boat from or to Richmond are fertilizers, tobacco, paper, cotton goods, sand and gravel, and general merchandise. There are railway connections to some of the wharves and highway connections to the others. Freshets occur irregularly in the fall, winter, and spring, their height at Richmond ranging from 4 to 28 feet (1.2 to 8.5 m.), though the latter is exceptional. The maximum freshet heights usually occur between the middle of March and the middle of April, the freshets occuring at other times not usually reaching a greater height than 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m.) above the normal high water. The number of freshets causing the water to rise above the level of the wharves, on the main channel at Richmond average about one per year, and the water level seldom rises above the level of the city dock. The rise of water level due to freshets rapidly decreases below Richmond and is little felt at Hopewell. Anchorage out of the way of traffic is permitted in the channel at Richmond, but vessels usually go to the wharves. Small boats anchor on the flats or in the cove having its entrance just westward of the entrance to the city dock. The harbor master at Richmond attends to the berthing and anchorage of vessels on request. The city has a tugboat ready to assist vessels. Pilotage is not compulsory for James River above Newport News. Pilots can be obtained at Hampton Roads or Newport News, or at Hopewell for Appomattox River or James River above that point. Strangers should take a pilot if navigating above Hopewell if of more than 12 feet (3.6 m.) draft. The following information is given to supplement Chart No. 531: Wing dams which show above water extend out to the edge of the channel in places. Shoals between these dams have been raised by deposit and now show above water or by the grass covering them. The deepest water in the river follows along the outside bank of all the curves. The distance is 31 miles. Buoys mark the east side of the channel from Hopewell to Shirley. Beyond Upper Shirley the east bank can be followed at a distance of 100 yards to the light on Hardens Wharf. Above this the channel passes around Turkey Island and is marked on the south side by buoys. A light is maintained on Pickets Wharf and another at Point Bremo. A wharf light and a buoy mark the channel a half mile north of Mount Blanco. For a mile above this place the channel is constricted by projecting jetties. The channel then turns about Jones Neck and narrows near Woodson Rock. Follow the range to clear the rock and then a mid-channel course between the wing dams above. The river has ample depth in Dutch Gap Canal but makes a sharp turn and is difficult to navigate, especially during freshets, or by long vessels. These are sometimes forced to anchor below the gap and to wait until the crest of the flood has passed. Two lights serve as leading marks through Kingsland Reach and the channel above it. A light marks the turn near Chaffins Bluff. There is a wharf light at Falling Creek 2 miles above the old fortifications at Drewrys Bluff, and between here and Richmond a few lights and spar buoys. Supplies.-All kinds of supplies are obtainable at Newport News and Richmond. Gasoline, Diesel oil, provisions, and water may be obtained at many of the other landings along the river. Repairs. Minor repairs to machinery can be made at Richmond and Petersburg, and there are small railways at Battery Park; but the nearest dry dock is at Newport News, and extensive repairs to hulls and machinery can best be made there or at Norfolk. Towboats can be had at Hampton Roads, and there is a municipalowned tug for assistance in Richmond Harbor. Ice. There is some drift ice in the river during severe winters, and at times the river is frozen over, interrupting navigation for a few days. Navigation to Richmond is hardly ever suspended 30 days at one time on account of ice. Tides. The mean rise and fall of tides is 2.5 feet in Hampton Roads, 2.8 feet at Hopewell, 3.4 feet at Dutch Gap, and 3.7 feet at Richmond. Currents. The currents follow the general direction of the channel except between Hog Island and Jamestown Island, where they set across Goose Hill Flats. Their velocities are variable; in the lower reaches the flood current approximately equals the ebb in velocity; the main counteracting effect on the flood is the freshet current. The times of slack water also vary to a considerable extent, due principally to freshets, especially in the upper reaches of the river. The strength of current and the times of slack water in the following list are for normal conditions, and under abnormal conditions may differ, therefore, sometimes to a considerable extent. Currents, James River.-Off Hog Point.-In the center of the channel the slack waters and the strengths of flood and ebb occur about 134 hours after the time of the corresponding slack waters and strengths at Chesapeake Bay entrance. The slack water before flood occurs about 1 hour before the time of the high water at Old Point Comfort and the slack water before ebb occurs about 11⁄2 hours before the time of low water at Old Point Comfort. The average velocity of the current at strength of flood is about 1 knot and at strength of ebb about 12 knots. Off Claremont Landing.-The slack waters and the strengths of flood and ebb currents occur about 3 hours after the time of the corresponding slack waters and strengths at Chesapeake Bay entrance. The slack water before flood occurs about 1/4 hour after the time of high water at Old Point Comfort and the slack water before ebb occurs about 2 hour before the time of low water at Old Point Comfort. The average velocity of the current at strength of flood or ebb is about 11⁄2 knots. Off Wilcox Wharf.-The slack waters and the strengths of flood and ebb current occur about 314 hours after the times of the corresponding slack waters and strengths of current at Chesapeake Bay entrance. The slack water before flood occurs about 1/2 hour after the time of high water at Old Point Comfort and the slack water before ebb occurs about the time of low water at Old Point Comfort. The usual velocity at strength of flood or ebb is about 114 knots. Off Hopewell. The slack waters and strengths of flood and ebb occur about 4 hours after the time of the corresponding slack waters and strengths at Chesapeake Bay entrance. The slack water before flood occurs about 14 hours after the time of high water at Old Point Comfort and the slack water before ebb occurs about 3/4 hour after the time of low water at Old Point Comfort. The approximate average velocity of the current at strength of flood is 114 knots and at strength of ebb 111⁄2 knots. Above Hopewell the velocity of the current and times of slack water are variable. At Richmond the currents are chiefly nontidal. HAMPTON ROADS TO YORK RIVER [Charts 1222 and 494] Horseshoe is a shoal with depths less than 18 feet (5.5 m.), which extends 5 miles from the shore between Old Point Comfort and Back River Lighthouse, its southern edge bordering the north side of the channel into Hampton Roads. This shoal has depths of 13 to 18 feet (3.9 to 5.5 m.) over its eastern half; its western half has a least depth of 8 feet (2.4 m.) if the shore be given a berth of 11⁄2 mile, but there are depths of 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 m.) 3/4 to 1 mile southeastward of Back River Lighthouse. The eastern extension is marked by a gas and bell buoy. Local steamers and small craft of 7 feet (2.1 m.) or less draft, with a smooth sea, plying between Hampton Roads, York River, and Mobjack Bay, use routes leading across the fish-trap area off Old Point Comfort, varying the courses according to the locations of the traps. |