Many of the marinas in the northeast are either not open yet or working on reduced hours. Such was the case for our marina last night. They were already closed by the time we arrived yesterday, so we weren't able to fuel up last night and pay for our dockage. When I called earlier in the day to make the reservation, they said there were not scheduled to open in the morning until 8:30. However, with the proper incentive (ie. cash) the dockmaster was convinced to come in at 6:45am to let us pay our dockage, top off our fuel and get us on our way.
At 7:15am, all was squared away and we were back out on the water. It was almost a perfect day out on the ocean. Winds less than 10kts, seas flat calm and the sun just pouring through the isinglass and keeping us nice and warm. What a change from yesterday morning.
We set a couple of waypoints and got down to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay around 11:15. We had to turn in for two reasons: 1) there are no good inlets on the NC coast until Beaufort which is over 300 miles from Ocean City, MD; and 2) we didn't have enough fuel to make it to Beaufort because we would have to go out around Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. Therefore, we jumped onto the ICW at mile marker "0" in Norfolk and made our way down to Coinjock, NC.
Now here is where a lot of luck and some perfect timing came into play. For those who have traveled this section of water, you know the routine with the bridges. For those that are not familiar with the first 15 miles of the ICW, it can be a pain in the neck. There are 5 bridges and 1 lock which are on a very strict schedule. In addition, three of the bridges shut down from 3:30 to 6:30 for rush hour traffic. So if you don't time it right to get through all the bridges, you literally get stuck in between and there is only one marina in the entire section of water. Typically, you have to allow at least 3 1/2 hours to complete the 15 mile section.
Well we totally lucked out and did the entire section in 1 hour and 35 minutes. The reason was some commercial barge traffic that got one of the bridges to open 10 minutes early which allowed us to make the next bridge at the top of the hour. Right place, right time, but the reality is it was just dumb luck.
We figured we would arrive in Coinjock around 5:30pm. Instead, we tied up at 3:45. That was the perfect ending to this day.
Tomorrow we have a lot of water (235 miles) to cover to make Wrightsville Beach. We hope to get underway at first light, about 6:45am with an estimated arrival around 6:00pm. It has been a fun trip with Ron. The boat is running well and we have worked a few of the gremlins out of the boat for the new owner. I was able to fix a half dozen things today since we got in early.
We are looking forward to tomorrow's adventure.
A good view and a smooth ocean from the Meridian 541
Coming into Norfolk, VA
The Great Bridge Lock
The restaurant in Coinjock, NC
IC Ron with a cold Miller Lite after a good day on the water
Some specifics on the trip so far: (Cummins QSM-11 715hp)
Distance: 271 miles
Fuel: 502 gallons
MPG: .54
Cruise: 2000 rpm; 25 - 27 mph
Ave. Fuel Burn: 42 Gallons/Hr
Run Time: 12 hours
Ave Fuel Price: $3.99/gal + tax
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