Belhaven to Coinjock - a long day

Well, we looked at the map and weather forecast and decided we should make a long run on Tuesday -- 90 miles from Belhaven to Coinjock. Our primary concern was crossing the Albemarle Sound in good weather.

The Albemarle is a shallow bay and therefore can be whipped into a frenzy by the wind. It has quite a reputation. The forecast called for moderate winds out of the Southwest. Since we were traveling Northeast, that sounded good. Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, so we decided to do this trip in one long day.

So, I think we did the right thing. But I'm not sure. We traversed two big bays. The first was the Alligator River. The wind built as we crossed this bay and Linda said at one point, "How could any alligator swim in this wild water!"

Then we passed thru the Alligator River swing bridge and passed the Alligator Marina on our way into the Albemarle sound. As we entered my anemometer was reading 20 knots from the SE (behind us). The chart plotter was telling me that it was a 10-mile crossing. So that's one hour at 10 knots or 30 minutes at 20 knots. I opted for a faster crossing to keep the first mate and CMO happy.

A few minutes into the crossing the wind built to 30 knots and the waves were in the 2 to 3 foot range (from our stern quarter). Invictus handled it beautifully, but it was a wild ride. At one point, when the bow plowed in after surfing down a big wave, Linda said, "That was scary."

I agreed. After crossing the sound, we snaked up the canal to a wide spot known as Coinjock at 2:30. I was exhausted and the CMO needed to pee. We had our calmest day and our biggest waves back to back. But nobody was sick or hurt and it will probably help prepare us for bigger waters ahead.



The entire economy of Coinjock is built on yacht traffic. There is one restaurant that specializes in prime rib. Diesel fuel is a little more expensive here ($1.98) because you are captive. Nonetheless, we were happy to tie off and enjoy an evening of cooking aboard and blogging so we don't forget what we are experiencing.



We both agreed that we don't want anymore 90-mile days -- unless we have to. On the other hand, we learned things about our boat and the waters of North Carolina today that will stick with us for a long time.

As we went to bed, we said once again, "This is the trip of a lifetime." Mark Twain was right when he said, "Throw off the bow lines, Explore!"

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