Coinjock to Elizabeth City

Day 22, Wednesday, October 19, 2016

You can monitor my trip at the link: Second Winds Progress Live

I just sailed into Cruisers Paradise.  But more about that later.

Since I have gorged myself on prime rib last night, I started my day with a bowl of Cheerios and skim milk.  That was brought on board in case I ran out of breakfast food but I figured that I needed to reduce my bodily energy intake to balance the

Looking toward the bridge to be passed from Midway Marina

load.

We left the Midway Marina at 9:00.  I followed the boat Reflection, the one with the tall mast, to the bridge located about a mile from the marina.  Boats that had passed the bridge earlier reported that the water level had appeared to have dropped and that the height was now 64 feet.  We were set up with a 60 foot line to run from the top of Reflection’s mast to my boat in case we needed to tip her to past under the bridge.  Brad, the skipper, says that his mast height is 63 ½ feet high so he decided to try to ease under.  We all cheered as he passed out the other side with no damage.

We motored through the narrow passage way of the North Carolina Cut for about 8

Motoring along the canal

miles to where we again opened out into a large lake like portion of the North River.  I again put up the sails and sailed for probably 4 or 5 miles but the winds were not as strong as yesterdays and I was falling behind the pack so I started the motor and motor-sailed for a while. 

The falling behind the pack is typically not a problem, however, back in the winter when I was installing the charts on my chartplotter, I somehow missed a small section of the Albemarle Sound though which we were to be traveling and although I have paper charts and the skills to get there the old fashion way, it is a lot easier to use the other boats as guides through the 10 miles or so that I am missing.

We turned west and headed up the sound and I must say, I wondered about the wisdom of traveling the 10 or 15 miles out of our way to stay on the free docks of

My nav station - making 5.4 knots in 13.3 ft of water heading 307 degrees have traveled 238 miles

Elizabeth City.  The winds were fluky and the waters are packed with crap trap floats.  At one point   my boat suddenly slowed down although the motor continued to pull hard.  I had kissed a float with my keel.  Luckily I was able to put the boat into reverse and back away.  The floats are painted black and I missed this one.  On several other occasions, I have hit them and wrapped them so tight that I had to get into the Dink and remove the prop to get it untangled. 

The blimp hanger

Just east of Elizabeth City I passed a huge hanger that was built by the Navy during the WWII era to house blimps.  There were mooring posts and according to Google, there were originally two of these monsters, however one of them, a wooden structure, burned in 1995.  They had hanger space for 12 Navy “K” ships.  The Navy used the blimps for anti-submarine patrolling along the East Coast and harbors.  They were also used to escort ships and for search and rescue. The military deactivated the organization and it is now owned by someone whom I assume has a blimp stored within.  Google was vague about that.

And then no wind

By the time I got to Elizabeth City, the wind had died and the water was glassy.  There is a Coast Guard air field there and one of their C-130s was doing low approaches as I passed buy.  Again, it brought back memories.

I pulled into harbor of Elizabeth City and was directed to back into a slip along the wall on the city dock.  Along with members of our group, there were several local citizens were there to assist me.  Once all of our group were safely

moored, we were invited to a patio on the wharf where the local visitor’s bureau gave us a “Rose Buddy” reception.  They had roses for the ladies and a glass of wine for the men.  They also had a big pan of chicken fingers, cheeses, chips and dip.  The tradition started back in the ‘80s when an older gentleman had the idea to greet boaters to their free dock with wine and roses.  He and a friend continued the tradition until he died well into his 90s.  The city fathers have continued the tradition to this day.  The head of the bureau gave a brief welcoming address delineating all of the good and services that are available in the area.  The have free Wi-Fi all along the dock and bicycles to be borrowed.  A number of citizens were in attendance and have offered to take us any where we

Monument to the original Rose Buddies

need to go in their cars.  A group of us will go shopping at Walmart tomorrow. There will be at least two cars shuttling us. 

I spent the early part of the evening enjoying a shower and then going out with a couple guys to a Japanese restaurant for my first experience there.  I had warm sake and hibachi beef with a soup, salad and fried rice.  I use my chop sticks as if I knew what was doing until I got to the rice then the fork came into play.  I have eaten Chinese, Thai, Philippine, and Vietnamese foods but not Japanese food.  I must say I enjoyed it.

My dinner partners went next door to watch the presidential debates and I returned to the boat in time to make my 9:00 curfew.