whereinthehelliscoinjock?

 

On our way, finally, down the ICW!  Probably should have grabbed more pictures but the thing about the ICW is that you have to really pay attention!  There are few wide open spaces, you have to watch the GPS carefully while also watching the water for 'deadheads', stumps and whatever debris may be floating in your path.

I typically run with 2-3 GPS's the ICW - My Garmin 12" running Garmin (Navionics) chart software and shows the route for the day; my tablet, running Aquamaps chart software that gives more specific depth data and often my phone, also running Navionics chart software where I also have my route and I use it for looking ahead or planning for next day (and checking future issues, like the Onslow Beach Bridge which is closed M-Th for next 3 weeks).

This trip, we're taking the Virginia Cut, rather than the Great Dismal Swamp route that we took in 2019.  Our destination for the day was Coinjock, NC.  The route is interesting...for a while, anyway.  The first part of the trip was full of bridges, some of which we had to wait for openings (The Great Bridge Bridge - really?); and one lock, which I have found is pretty easy with two people on board, not so much with one!  After the last of the bridges, there is about 30 miles of, well, not much.  Wind from the SE was on the nose and quite chilly.  Forecast was for 10-15 kts wind but I believe the minimum was 15 (no sailboat anymore = no anemometer for measuring wind speed).  After 30 miles of monotony, suddenly appears two marinas on port side.  One very long dock, everyone (with a reservation) ties up along this dock.   I think this may be all there is to Coinjock...although there were people that arrived by car from somewhere.

Coinjock Marina is well known for its restaurant's prime rib - they recommend that you call in advance to reserve prime rib, which, of course, we did.  Ours were as good as advertised!

Most boaters stay just one night at Coinjock then continue on south.  We opted to stay for a second night to wait for the forecasted wind shift the following day.  I still remember heading into the Albemarle Sound last time against the wind and it was not a pleasant day - no need to repeat that!

Day 2 in Coinjock we took advantage and washed down the boat, which was well covered with salt from the chop on last day in the Chesapeake.  We meandered through the ships store - they had a good sale on t-shirts (whereinthehelliscoinjock) and a few strategic items for boat and galley...but I wouldn't count on it for provisioning.  The wind blew like stink from the SE, so we were happy with our decision to stay put for the extra day.