Southbound ’17 – Travel Day 12: Norfolk, VA to Coinjock, NC

FROM: The Captain

Forecast: Mostly sunny. Winds from the north 10-15kt. 

Distance traveled: 49.2 statute miles

Time underway: 5 hours 54 minutes

Average Speed: 8.3 mph

Max Speed: 21.4 mph

Fuel used: 48 gallons

In many ways, leaving Norfolk felt like a renewed beginning of our trip.  You certainly turn the page on the journey south as you leave the area and begin traveling the ICW, spending much more time motoring through desolate areas, some, where the waterway is fairly narrow with lots of twists and turns and not a soul to be seen.  Much of this leg also requires a lot of slow-going in no-wake zones and time spent idling as you wait for a bridge opening.

We planned our departure from Portsmouth so we would make a “lock-through” of the Great Bridge lock without having to wait too long when we reached it eleven miles into the trip.  The lock opens in coordination with the Great Bridge bridge (Great Bridge is a town in Virginia) which is just south of the lock and only opens on the hour.  So we wanted to be sure we were at the lock by half past the hour.  We planned a bit conservatively and left at 8:00 am to make it there by 9:30.  Plenty of time to cover eleven miles of mostly slow-moving, right?  Well, just before we pulled out of the marina we heard a tug hailing a bridge down the line to alert them that they would be there in around 25 minutes.  Wait – we’re going that way.  With our lines still tied we looked out into the ICW and saw a huge barge being pushed by a tug with another tug nearby.  We are going to be behind them.  You are not permitted to overtake commercial traffic in this part of the waterway, nor would you want to in most places because of how narrow it is.  “Well, let’s hope for the best” and, “we’re not really on a schedule” were among the utterances at that moment.

 

 

As we idled along past great Navy ships and plenty of maritime eye-candy – it’s really cool heading south out of Norfolk – we were eventually right behind our tug-and-barge escort and it was clear that we stood little chance of making the 9:30 window to lock through if we had to follow them for much longer.  When we came upon one particularly sharp bend in the river, we quietly floated in neutral as we watched the two tugs begin what was going to be a fairly complex operation to maneuver the barge through the turn.  As time continued to tick-on the Admiral suggested, “what’s the harm of hailing them to see if they’re OK with us passing.”  So I did.  The tug captain was good with our request and most gracious when we thanked them after passing.  On to the lock…

The Great Bridge lock, in my mind, is one of those rights-of-passage on this trip.  A literal and figurative gateway to what lies ahead.  We entered the lock with a few power boats that were not so well-planned in their departure from the marina and had inevitably been waiting there for some time.  A few sailboats were along for the foot and a half drop in the lock as well and this is when you start to see some of the boaters that are on a similar travel schedule as you, who you will inevitably be seeing again along the way.  Jasper was right there on the foredeck making sure everything was running smoothly and, as always, was a big hit with other boaters and the lockmaster.

Once clear of the lock and bridge we essentially had the ICW to ourselves for much of the ride.  After a stretch of narrows, you enter the Currituck Sound which is a fairly big body of water with lots of fetch, making it ripe for a good chop with the very strong wind that was blowing right at us from the south.  We did take some spray over the bow at times but we were very comfortable and it was smooth enough for the Admiral to prepare some delicious OLOH healthy nachos while underway.

We pulled into Coinjock Marina at 1:54 pm with a very strong wind funneling through this very narrow piece of the ICW but laid the OLOH alongside without incident.  I love Coinjock.  Maybe it’s something I’ve just made up in my mind after having heard about this place for so many years before first making it here (this is my fourth time but first on our own boat) but this place is legendary.  Coinjock Marina is seemingly simple, beautifully kept and the dockage is a bulkhead to tie up to along the waterway but it really is so much more.  Because of its strategic location, it is one of the most popular “regular” stops on the ICW during the fall and spring migration seasons.  You’ll have boats of all kind, from 20′ to 100’+, tightly spaced, with delivery crews, boat owners, families and Coinjock locals packing the very good, very casual restaurant on-site that is famous for its 32-ounce prime rib (as non-red-meat-eaters we abstained, but they were moving plenty of them).

They know what they’re doing here.  The owner Louis and his crew understand what they have, know who they’re catering to and just do it right.  Dockhand JW is right back to you on the VHF with his accent that lets you know you’re getting further south, giving you precise docking instructions based on what the wind is doing, and he cleats your spring line perfectly so your boat falls right into place mere feet from the boat behind you.  Within minutes of docking, a fuel nozzle was ready for us at the boat to top off the tanks and the whole process is just seamless.  It’s also very dog-friendly and there’s grass for Jasper mere feet from the steps they provide you to get on and off your boat.

Once fueled we indulged in our arrival cocktail – an OLOH Hill Runner (a Corporate Approved Planters Punch was the first cocktail I had during my first stay here years ago but our friends, Jeff and Barb Hill, gave us this great bottle of rum, so we decided to start a new tradition!  Welcome to the Libations Club with Hill Runner, Jeff and Barb).  Then we settled into boat and blog duties before it was time to dine.