NC

Coinjock, NC

So about yesterday, 1/16/17:
* left Atlantic Yacht Basin Marina around 8:30 in the fog. Fog and across the canal distance gave us a sense of Halloween Past.

Really low water in that portion of the canal. Dr. Seuss- type stumps with long tosselled hair coming out the tops of them, almost like those short, rubber dolls of the 1980s (?). Or a apocalyptic event.  Or Road Runner cartoon bird.

After our last bridge that had to open - North River Landing Bridge - we were in broader but no deeper water. Tense. David now has three, count them three, electronic charts to monitor. They almost agree with each other. I'm happy to follow one, and even consult a second, electronic chart but three makes me crazy. How can I possibly look where I'm going if I'm monitoring three screens. And I DO like my paper chart, too. I appreciate David's efforts for our safety and that our ways of insuring, as much as possible, our safety are different. 

I took the helm for a bit...after only 4 days on the water in 4 months. Yikes!! I almost ran us aground twice, once insisting that I had to miss a clump of bushes that were in front of me. I wanted to go around them to the port side. However, the good water, and the channel, were on the starboard side. Thank you Capt DAvid for insisting on mending my ways...fast. Later Capt David almost ran us aground. He said he did it to make me feel less embarrassed. Sweet man.

We met our first barge. We were about to meet it - Island Pilot? - at a tight turn in the channel. When we picked it up on AIS David did a U-ie - Run Away! - to get back to wider part of the channel to let it pass.






There were a bunch of navigational aides missing completely or damaged. The advice given all along our route has been to stay in the middle of the channel or follow the magenta line (on the electronic charts), and slow down when it gets iffy.

Just before arriving at Coinjock Marina and Restuarant we needed to pass a waiting tug/barge. Not sure what it was waiting for but had apparently been there for some time according to sailors we met later. On AIS it looked as if it was totally across the channel. Nope. We had plenty of space to get by. It was impressively large...and close. What's that signage on car mirrors? Something about "objects in your mirror are closer than they look"....

Lovely to be in a marina again where we can plug in our mighty little electric heater. We're getting soft. Two years past we would have anchored. Well, on that journey we weren't traveling in freezing temps. Aah, delays and the creature comforts of warmth.

We met the woman, Diane, from SV Abigail Grace tied up north of us. She and Greg are heading to FL. We hope to meet them farther along as they will not leave tomorrow/today. The fun thing though. They had just before we arrived,  left Atlantic Yacht Basin in company of our friend Ken, on Surrender. So Ken and Bart (Triakel) are one day ahead of us. Ken is the man who helped us land at Camp Ellis, ME, on our 2nd try at ICW and then bought a boat and had it at Brewer's in Freeport. Really looking forward to connected with him again.

I am much happier now that we are out of those cold, frozen, twisty, turney, waters of the north! And it is sunny and almost warm!