Monday evening, November 5. We’d had an enjoyable afternoon with our friends on C’est la Vie, walking around Olde Town Portsmouth and riding the ferry to Norfolk. We made lunch out of appetizers at a couple of tap rooms, and otherwise gotten in some of the exercise that can be hard to get when cruising. Neal made a pot of gumbo before we left (in my experience, boaters are notoriously bad cooks, but C’est la Vie is an exception), and were sharing it with us.
Toward the end of dinner, there was a knock on the side of C’est la Vie. The couple on Renegade live in Lafayette, LA, which is C’est la Vie’s hailing port. Having spotted the reference to Louisiana, they felt compelled to introduce themselves. The six of us swapped boat cards and had a nice visit, sharing details about ourselves and our boats, before Renegade’s owners went off to dinner themselves.
Meeting new people and forming friendships is an exercise in finding common interests. That’s fairly easy at a marina. Everyone there shares the unique experiences of travelling on the water and the joys of ownership. There is work needed to keep the boat running and maintained. (Anybody ever emptied the holding tank in their home?) There are the inevitable maintenance, repairs and upgrades – remember that BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thou$and. And every boat is unique, so there is information to share about engines, cabin layout, air conditioning systems.
Another thing we have in common is the annual migration – running south to escape the winter cold and north to escape the summer head. Tidewater Marina sits at the northern entrance to the Atlantic ICW, so southbound travelers have just come off of the Chesapeake Bay. This season has seen a lot of rough weather and water on the bay, so it seems that everyone at Tidewater is feeling relieved that the worst is behind them as they head into calmer waterways.
There are, however, stretches of open water between here and Florida. The next one is just before Coinjock, which is realistically the next stop for all. Sabrina and C’est la Vie were planning to leave Tuesday morning, November 6 for Coinjock. As part of our pre-travel prep we checked weather and wave forecasts and learned that the water in Currituck Sound just before Coinjock may be worse that we had expected. This is more of a problem for C’est la Vie whose draft is deeper than Sabrina’s. But we were in no mood to get tossed around so soon after Sunday’s trip, so we along with C’est la Vie decided to stay another night. The couple on Esmeralde decided to stay behind as well, while Renegade decided to push on. Wednesday’s outlook is much better.
But staying in port, even as a last-minute decision, isn’t all bad. It gave all of us a chance to catch up on some chores and projects, while weather reports confirmed that we would have had a rough run into 2-3 foot waves. This evening, Sabrina hosted owners of Emeralde and C’est la Vie for drinks and snacks. Then we called it an early evening – we are all headed to Coinjock tomorrow, and winds and seas should be much calmer.
The weather uncertainty shifts to Thursday. From Coinjock, the next major crossing is about 20 nm (3 hours) in the Albemarle sound. Starting on Friday, the Albemarle waters will be too rough for several days. Sabrina and C’est la Vie hope to make a long 60+ nm run to Belhaven. The idea is to spend those in-port days in Belhaven, a small town with stores, restaurants, etc. Coinjock is a literally a wide spot in the canal, and nobody wants to spend several windy days at anchor.
So tomorrow (Wednesday) we will get an early start, and plan to arrive in Coinjock mid-afternoon. Look for reports and photos from our first locking experience. Meanwhile, I’m thinking we need to change Sabrina’s hailing port to Baton Rouge. Nobody ever comes to introduce themselves because Pasadena, MD caught their attention!
MV Sabrina goes ... 
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