…from Coinjock, NC to Belhaven, NC

Distance traveled: 73 nautical miles
Travel time: 10 hours, 10 minutes

On the previous post, I had said we planned to leave Coinjock at 6:00 am.  However, the next morning it was still raining so we bumped that up to 6:30am.  It was still misting (and darkish) when we pulled out, but we made it.

Most of that trip was ok comfort wise with a bit of rocking and rolling.  The weather was gray and overcast. Yuck. About half of the trip was in the Alligator/Pungo Canal.  It’s basically a big ditch cut into the swamp to connect the Alligator and Pungo Rivers.  We did not see a single Alligator. haha In fact, we only saw one wildlife. But, it was a good one.  A bald eagle on a cypress tree!  Poor photo below.

We did, however, see several sport fishing boats.  These can be 50-70 foot sport fishers with huge wakes.  And they fly through there at top speeds.  Say, 30-40 knots compared to our 6-7 knots.  We think they are repositioning the fleet.  Maybe they are finished hiring out in the outer banks and are going inland for the winter.  Maybe they are used boats for sale and they are moving them from one location to another.  We really don’t know.

I was down below in the galley making afternoon coffee and happened to look out the back and see 3 of them bearing down on us.  I’ll be honest.  It actually scared me a little. We had been keeping up with a sailboat most of the day and for several hours it was just us (a 36 foot boat), C’est La Vie (a 58 foot boat) and that sailboat (that I’m estimating to be 36-40 foot).  We settled into a rhythm of about 7 knots gently rolling along.  When I glanced back and saw them,  they made that sailboat look like a kayak!  Like the worst kind of biker gang.

Along with the sports fishing boats was a MASSIVE catamaran.  A whale watching boat out of NH. Not sure what it was doing here.  Maybe it spends the winter down south.

There was ZERO cell service in the Alligator/Pungo Canal.  Nada. Zip.Nothing. #noservice

We finally saw some more wildlife once we got to Dowry Creek Marina in Belhaven, NC.  Laundry room lizard, frog, and we heard dolphins! We couldn’t see them because it was too dark. Soon.  Soon, my friends, we’ll have a real live dolphin sighting. 🙂

This is a good marina.  They were heavily damaged by Florence several weeks ago.  But, they are making repairs quickly.  One of the things this marina is known for is free laundry.  Sweet! We did 5 loads.  They’re still using one of the old machines that take quarters.  It took me a minute to figure it out.  Normally, you’d put your quarters in the tray with the slots, push it in to activate the machine and your quarters drop into the locked box below.  They’ve removed the locked box and replaced it with a cardboard box labeled quarters.  So, you take the quarters out of the box  put them in the slot and push them in to start the machine.  Then the quarters drop down into the cardboard box for the next user.  Love it!

We stayed in Belhaven the next day to find a notary and a UPS drop box to complete and send closing papers on our house in DC.  What an adventure.  I think Kenny’s going to write up a post on that scavenger hunt.

Another great night playing Mexican Train with Neal and Margretta. Then early to bed and early to rise for a run to Morehead City, NC to meet up with a few other Krogens.

– Kitty