10/21/13

We left Norfolk at 7:15 a.m. and headed toward Coinjock, NC.  We arrived at Dominion Boulevard Bridge with six boats behind us and had to wait 25 minutes for it to open.  By the time we arrived at Great Bridge Lock, we had nine power boats and one sail boat locking through with us.  Even though we were first in the lock, we let a Sport Fish that came in behind us lock through first since he travels much faster than we do.  The lockmaster said, "You can let him go ahead of you because he goes faster, but you'll all be waiting at the next bridge together."  Sure enough,  everybody waited at the bridge until the last one arrived before they would open.  We could hear the lockmaster tell the bridge tender on the radio that there were nine powers and one sail.  At each bridge opening, the bridge tender would tell the next bridge how many boats he was sending their way.  The Sport Fish would travel "all out" only to sit and wait until the rest of us caught up before the bridge would open.  They only opened on the half hour and hour, and if you travelled at 8 knots, you would arrive right on time for the opening.  We went through a total of four bridge openings and one lock. 

We crossed into North Carolina about 12:30 pm and arrived at Coinjock at 2:00, travelling a total of 43 miles.  We met several couples going south, one that we ended up spending two nights on the hook with that I'll tell you about later ("Meant To Be").  One boat came all the way from Buffalo, NY ("Our Legacy").  The man that owned it coerced every friend and acquaintance he knew to take turns helping him take the boat south.  His wife was still working in Buffalo and would eventually join him in Florida (smart woman).  This gentleman was very nice, but not very boat savvy.  He hit a boat and the dock when he docked in Coinjock.  But I have to give him a lot of credit... he brought the boat all the way from Buffalo and made it this far.