⚓️ LBR Report: June 5-7 2026 and ⛵️Sail 250🇺🇸

Lynnhaven Boat Ramp Report from Parks and Recreation Dept:

Sail 250:

Ships will begin anchoring in the Lynnhaven anchorage beginning Tuesday June 16. 32 total ships from 15 different countries.

Parade of Sail: Underway from Lynnhaven Anchorage at 0735 hours on Friday June 19.

The Lynnhaven Boat Ramp area has been identified as a Casualty Collection Point (CCP) should a mass casualty event occur on one of the ships or at the anchorage. Other than this it will be normal operations.

The boat ramp will be fully staffed for the Sail 250 weekend with anticipation of large crowds for the parade of sails and normal boaters and beachgoers. We also expect larger weeknight crowds with people trying to see the ships from the beach.

June 5-7: “This was an extremely busy weekend with a total of 480 launches.

Friday, June 5 – 165 total launches, car parking did fill around 1pm with sporadic availability throughout the remainder of the afternoon. The overflow lot was used for 4-5 vehicles. We did not have to close using the barricades at any time.

Saturday, June 6 – 189 total launches, car parking did fill up around 11am and was full most of day. The overflow lot was used for approximately 50 vehicles with trailers. We did close the facility to trucks and trailers around 10:30am using the barricades. We also changed the new electronic signs to full and notified the VBPD that the ramp was closed to trucks and trailers. This was a very busy day as we had to turn away about 40-50 boaters due to our trailer parking being full. In addition to the number of trailers turned away, most of the boaters that came early to launch remained on the water until late afternoon, so we had very little turnover throughout the day.

Sunday, June7 – 132 total launches, car parking did fill up around 10am and there was limited available parking throughout the day. The overflow lot was used for larger oversized trailers on this day. We did have to close the facility around 1030am-415pm, and barricade operations were implemented. Police were notified that our facility parking was full and patrolled the area throughout the day.

Incidents to report:

Other than increased attendance at the facility during the evening hours each night review of the camera footage from the weekend showed nothing except people utilizing the beach as intended. Security had no additional reports of issues during their scheduled times. On Monday, June 8 at approximately 9:41pm, I did get an update from security that the Real Time Crime Center alerted VBPD of some high school students gathering on the beach. Security reported that VBPD came onsite but no found no major issues or violations.

Notes:

1. The new digital signs were implemented this weekend. Although we had to turn away a lot of boaters the staff felt that the signs were very beneficial. Our hope being that people will do better about not turning off Shore Drive when they see we our full. This will take time.

2. We have noticed an influx of larger boats coming to the facility due to the perceived issues at the Owl Creek boat ramp. With this there have been many new citizens launching and recovering that are not used to our procedures. During the weekend of June 6-7, we had several incidents of verbal abuse towards staff, citizens not abiding by established procedures when launching and recovering their boats, and uncooperative drivers trying to circumvent our barricade operations for road closure. Even with a full complement of staff, users are not being compliant to what staff are communicating.

Parking Enforcement:

Total Citation Count: 42 Total Read Count: 416 (this is the number of vehicles scanned during enforcement visits) “

June 16, 2026 0

LBR Report August 8-10

Channel from Lynnhaven Boat Ramp to Lynnhaven Inlet

During the high season in Virginia Beach, Parks and Recreation staff share weekly updates regarding weekend activity at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp (LBR):

“This past weekend August 8-10 was comparatively slower overall to our higher attended weekends this summer. Again, there were small craft advisories for most of the weekend and it very windy each of the days. We had a total of 320 launches over the 3 days:

Friday, August 8 – 34 total launches, car parking did not fill up there was available parking throughout the day. The overflow lot was not used. We did not have to close using the barricades at any time.

Saturday, August 9 – 137 total launches, car parking filled around 10:55am and was busy the remainder of the day. The overflow was not used. Barricade operations were not needed.

Sunday, August 10 – 149 total launches, car parking was full from 10:30am-6:30pm. The overflow was used for 15 vehicles. Barricade operations were not needed.

Incidents to report:

Captain Gordon reported that on Thursday, August 7 the midnight shift officers held their muster meeting at the boat ramp.

Staff reported that they spoke to several of the party barge captains to explain and reinforce getting their passengers loaded and unloaded quicker and not to tie up the docks while waiting. All were compliant.

On Sunday afternoon we had a boat breakdown on Ramp #4 which slowed launching and recovery operations down for a short period.

Review of video data from Friday until Monday morning showed limited car traffic after hours. Police Real Time Crime Center was seen monitoring the cameras during the overnight. Security is doing a great job of keeping cars out of the trailer lot and checking the front lots as requested.

Staff have reported one of the Dominion Power lights in the parking lot is out. We have submitted a work order to have it looked at.

Additional information:

The purchase orders for digital real-time Full/Open signs for the boat ramp have been received and the signs are on order. Delivery and install TBA.

August 14, 2025 0

LBR Activity Report: July 18-20

During the high season in Virginia Beach, Parks and Recreation staff share weekly updates regarding weekend activity at the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp (LBR):

“Overall, the weekend was a bit slower for launches due to the marine forecast and expected late afternoon thunderstorms, but the car parking continues to be very heavy throughout the day. We had a total of 468 launches over the 3 days. Below is a breakdown by day:

Friday, July 18: 85 total launches, car parking did not fill up. The overflow lot was used for 4 trailers. We did not have to close using the barricades at any time.

Saturday, July 19: 208 total launches, car parking was full from 9:15 am until around 8:00pm. The overflow was used for 56 vehicles with trailers. Barricade operations was not needed. Heavy car traffic all day through 9pm.

Sunday, July 20: 175 total launches, car parking was full from 11:00am – 8:15pm. The overflow was used for 25 vehicles. Barricade operations was not needed.

Incidents to report:

On Friday night around 8:45pm, a person on a jet ski was reported to have been traveling at a high speed on crab creek and creating a large wake. When the rider came to the ramp, a resident whose home backs up to crab creek, approached the rider about the wake she created and potential damage to his boat that was moored on his dock. Staff and security intervened and it was de-escalated and the resident left the boat ramp.

Review of video data from Friday until Monday morning showed heavy car traffic after hours until after midnight Friday and Saturday night but no visible loitering in the parking lots. Police were onsite Saturday night/Sunday morning from approximately 11:30pm-10:50pm walking around and keeping cars out of trailer parking. Police also came through the lot Sunday morning around 12:50am.

Garda Security is working well. We have been working with the contractor and Emergency Management to fine tune the standing orders. Approximately 6 residents were out last Thursday, first night of security, to introduce themselves.”

July 23, 2025 0