Exploring the James River to Richmond, VA (RVA) – Great Loop Cruising Side Trip

After a delightful stay in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, we had time for one last adventure this cruising season before winter arrives.

We decided on a relatively rarely done side trip up the James River to check out Richmond, VA – or RVA as commonly called.

The river is navigable about 90 miles right up to Richmond, which is the where the fall line is. Which means where the tide waters meet river rapids.

There are a few towns along the way and some small marinas – but not much else in terms of boat services. Waterways Guide had the trip documented as for self-sufficient cruisers only. Seeing as we’ve done the St. Johns River multiple times in Florida which is similar, we felt up for the adventure.

We weighed anchor in Portsmouth, VA and started a slow cruise up the river first passing mega shipbuilding yards.

This post covers our adventures from September 24 – October 30, 2024.

But first, if you’d prefer to listen to us babble on about this segment – here’s our video version:

Stop 1: Jamestown Beach Anchorage – Jamestown, VA

Our first stop was right off of Jamestown – the first English settlement.

We anchored just west of the ferry terminal to minimize wake – although there was still a bit to contend with as compared to the anchorage marked in front of the monument to the east.

And then we took the dinghy into ‘town’ to explore, docking at the public ramps.

There’s a nice little brewery, and that’s about it besides the Historic Jamestown Visitor Center and other historical parks. We opted to use our National Park Pass to explore the ruins of the original settlement.

We also stopped into the glass blowing demonstration center, which was quite fascinating to hang out with the artist and docent for a while learning more about this craft. We’re.. umm.. blown away!

And we also got a nice run in around the closed down driving loop (due to turtle season). How cool to be walking and running on the grounds of such a historical site!

The timing worked out well to weigh anchor in the afternoon to ride the flood further upriver after attending to some work calls.

Stop 2: Windmill Point Anchorage – Charles City, VA

We cruised northbound riding the flood until just before sunset – dropping the hook to the side of the river well out of the channel.

It was just an overnight, with an early morning departure planned where we made the final miles into Richmond – aiming to arrive before any potential rain impacts of Hurricane Helene might arrive to the area.

The river narrows this far inland, offering more tranquil views – but then it gets a bit more industrial as you approach RVA itself.

Along this section, Chris showed his civil engineering dork side and celebrated our 100th bridge crossing this cruising season.

Stop 3: Rocketts Landing Marina – Richmond, VA (1st Attempt)

We availed ourselves of the free pump out at Rocketts Landing Marina, and then got situated in our assigned slip – anticipating a multi-week stay.

We went out to start exploring, grabbed some lunch and took a walk.

Our anticipation for a new town was high, and we started laying out plans for booking tickets to shows, scouting out biking adventures on the Capital Trail, putting museums on the list and arranging the social schedule.

On the way back, we finally crossed paths with the dockmaster – expecting to officially check in.

But no…

‘I’m sorry.. I have some bad news. Do you have anywhere else to go?’

Apparently the forecast has changed, floods are coming in overnight from rains upstream from Helene. And the docks, which are perpendicular to the current flow, just won’t hold up to the predicted currents with a boat our size on them.

GAH! We had diligently checked the water gauges upstream before we left out that morning – just to make sure. This was a ‘rapidly’ developing situation (which obviously Helene caused extreme devastation to our west).

So here’s the dilemma – Richmond is nearly 90 miles up the James River, and the end of the line of navigable waters.

There are scant marinas on the way, the closest a couple hours backtracked. And we already had reports that the city docks at Hopewell were underwater at high tide. They’d only get worse with the upcoming flooding.

And we just spent 3 days cruising up the river specifically to be in Richmond. It would be quite a backtrack to ditch our plans.

There really weren’t easy options of place to go instead.

There was another Great Loop cruising vessel next to us, being asked the same thing.

So we put our heads together and came up with Plan B.

After all, adaptability is key to success of nomadic life.

Stop 4: Dutch Gap Anchorage – Henricus, VA

Our new fellow Great Looping friends and us decided to head back down river about 12 miles to an anchorage off of Dutch Gap.

It’s an oxbow off the James River – which was actually once the original river before a more straight through canal that was dug during the Civil War.

The anchorage would get us out of the anticipated high currents and commercial shipping traffic – and still keep us close enough to return to RVA after the floods.

And it turned out there are two free dinghy docks for accessing the Dutch Gap Conservation area, which has a lovely 4-mile shaded hiking trail.

This was a saving grace for us, and allowed us to get off the boat multiple times a day and keep up with our marathon training.

At the time we set the hook, the floods were predicted to recede in just 2 days.

But it ended up being 9-nights before the floods receded enough for us to return – our longest stay at a single anchorage to date (our new friends gave up after a few nights and headed back downriver).

We were delighted to discover that Henricus Historical Park was at the trailhead of the hiking trails – giving us something to do. And access to drinking water and bathrooms.

Turns out, this area of the James River was the second English settlement – and some dedicated historians have been working hard to bring that history back.

On top of what is believed to be the original site, they have built a historically-accurate-as-feasible town. Tours are provided for just $13pp – and we honestly weren’t expecting much.

But we were enchanted when the dressed in garb story tellers (some of whom actually built the buildings!) sucked us in. We spent nearly 3 hours touring the town and listening to stories.

And bonus.. with an actual address, that gave us access to grocery delivery. Which we very much appreciated as we didn’t get a chance to provision during our short stay in Richmond. We’re reliant on cooking at home, which was actually a blessing as we had a lot of dry goods we needed to use up before we store the boat for winter.

We also did succumb and called a Lyft to go into the town of Chester for lunch and provisioning, just to break up the stir craziness.

We made the best of the situation. We did end up doing a YouTube live towards the end, sharing some the adaptability we used to deal with water rationing, groceries and staying sane.

Thankfully, the dockmaster back in Richmond finally gave us the all clear to return.

Hello long showers and laundry!!

We actually did incredibly well with resources – only running the generator a total of 18 hours (which if it hadn’t rained and been so cloudy, our solar would have been enough). But that use allowed us to keep the water hot and even keep the hot tub at a nice soaking temp (yup – we were roughing it).

And we returned to dock with still at least 50 gallons of fresh water remaining. Which considering we weren’t able to top up the tanks before we were asked to leave – is pretty great. Our years of small RV living paid off.

And we used those rain showers in a secluded anchorage to our advantage.

Stop 5: Rocketts Landing Marina – Richmond, VA

There is so much to do in Richmond, VA (RVA)! We certainly did not get bored.

Unfortunately, not much of it right by Rocketts Landing Marina (the only option for transients.. much further up the river, and you have white water rapids!). But the marina is SUPER affordable – just $45/night or $141/week (for our boat) with power, water & pump out included!

And the marina kindly insisted on comping us a week for our delayed arrival (like they have any control over the weather?).

But there is Stone Brewery’s east coast location just a block away (with not one, but THREE gluten reduced beers on tap!),a food truck and two decent restaurants there. There’s also a couple of decent restaurants overlooking the marina that play music most of the day, and a mini grocery store which seems to have no price tags.

Everything else around is condos.

Thankfully, the Capital Trail is right at the marina and the town is very bike accessible overall once you find the bike lanes. And there’s a FREE bus that picks up right at the marina too which takes you all over the place. Including the closest grocery store a mile away.

And if you’re up for a little bit of walking, it’s only about 1.5 miles to the Canal District which offers so many amazing urban hiking options – from the Pipeline, Belle’s Island, Brown Island and more.

While there, we explored the Fine Arts Museum (free – and absolutely amazing), Historical & Cultural Museum, walked Carytown multiple times and just generally walked and biked all over the place.

And the food.. so many options! We found lots of plant based gluten free ethnic cuisines at every corner. From Thai, Indian, Mexican and Ethiopian! We even found gluten free crepes in Carytown! Yummmm.

Thank goodness for all that walking, running & biking to counteract it all!

And then the theater district with multiple places to catch a show. We made it to see a touring production of ‘Book of Mormon’ at the Altria – and wish other shows had lined up during our stay too.

But the real reason for the diversion up the river and sticking out the flooding was biking the Capital Trail from Richmond to Williamsburg/Jamestown.

This trail is 52 miles each way, and a completely maintained paved dedicated bike path. We have been wanting to get into overnight biking ‘credit card camping’ trips – but it just wasn’t feasible with Kiki. With her passing, whole new styles of adventures open up to us, so we’re taking advantage of it.

We booked a hotel in Williamsburg and set off on our eBikes.  We’ll have an upcoming post and video dedicated to this trip, and introducing our Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0s. All and all, with some site seeing tossed in, we biked 120 miles over two days – only about half of that using electric assist.

We had a blast in RVA! Totally worth the 90 mile detour (each way) off the ICW to make the journey up the James – and yes, even the 9-night delay!

Stop 6: Skinny Dip Anchorage – Henrico, VA

After an absolutely delightful and jam packed 2-week stay in Richmond, VA – we set off back down the James River.

It’s amazing how much the river had changed – with autumn colors emerging along the shoreline, and still lots of debris in the river from the flooding.

First night, we stayed at an anchorage off the river called ‘Skinny Dip’. It was however a bit too chilly to partake of the name sake. There may have been hot tub soaking however.

Stop 7: Hopewell City Marina – Hopewell, VA

Next stop was Hopewell, VA. The city’s marina offers transient dockage with power/water for just $15/night – can’t beat that!

We called ahead to make sure there was availability, and we were greeted with quite the welcoming committee to help take our lines. A very pleasant & friendly arrival with many offers for transportation if we needed it.

Our stop happened to coincide with a traveling tribute duo playing at the historic Beacon Theater – The Carole King & James Taylor Story. So we snatched some tickets and enjoyed the evening along with some strolling around town including the very long wooden riverside boardwalk.

Not much else to do here, so one night was plenty. But a very lovely stop for sure!

Stop 8: Cobham Bay Anchorage – Surrey, VA

We left Hopewell on a chilly morning (that’s Chris drinking some hot cocoa) and with new local intel on a favorite anchoring spot off of Chippokes State Park in Cobham Bay.

Perfect. We needed some quiet & low distractions to film a new Starlink video series for our work over at Mobile Internet Resource Center. And a place with shore access for walks & runs is always appreciated.

We checked the weather and it was all delightful and calm for the week ahead. So we set the anchor for a couple nights.

It was a delightful stay, and we got our work done too.

And then on our last night we woke up to a bouncy bucking boat. What happened? Seems a dry front had moved through causing NW winds. And now there were small craft advisories for the day on the James River!

Oops. Reminder to ALWAYS check the weather!

We moved to the salon to sneak in a few more hours of sleep before day break.. and then raised the hook at the first peak of sun.

Thankfully, the opposing tide had shifted by then and conditions had calmed down considerably.

We had a slightly choppy ride surfing wake to our next stop with better protection – but nothing too uncomfortable.

Stop 9: Smithfield Station Anchorage – Smithfield, VA

Our final stop on our return down the James River was ducking into Smithfield, VA – down the Pagan River.

Cute little town with a historic area with shops (with an ice cream shop & brewery, as all these towns seem to have!).

We also thoroughly enjoyed Windsor Castle Park and the lovely hiking trails to stretch our legs and get our points in.

And yup – this is Smithfield as in the ham company. If the wind is drifting, the scent of ham wafts over the town. For some, that might be a treat. For us mostly plant based folks, it was a bit much.

But mostly it was nice to get out of the winds and into protected waters.

There are two anchorages marked in the various navigation apps – the first was full of crab traps which we didn’t feel we could get out enough scope with the winds.

So we moved on down near the boat ramp to a much more protected cove with no obstacles – after deploying the drone to scope things out (drones are handy for such things!).

Hampton Roads Real Time Update

Note to self – don’t let a month of adventures go by again, putting together this much content at a time is a slog!

We arrived back to Norfolk, and decided we enjoyed our last visit so much that we booked another stay at Waterside Marina. Which given this is now the southern migration of boats, was jam packed this visit.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time – including meeting up with RVing friends Amanda & Jesse, an aerial silks intro course for me, more art museums, showing of Dracula at the Well’s Theater and getting in our final long marathon training run!

I type this from Y-Not’s winter storage location where we are busy prepping everything. Chris flew down to Florida and is driving the van back up to move aboard later this week.

Once everything is transitioned – we’ll be back to RV life for the winter. First stop will be back in Florida for the holidays with family. And running our marathon.

From there? The adventures are unwritten as we rediscover what nomadic life can be when not revolving around a cat.