Day 12: November 27, 2008 (Leaving our home, Good Old VA)

Port: Coinjock, North Carolina (36.34N 75.93W)

Weather: Today was clear skies, calm wind coming out of the W at about 5-10 mph. The high for today was 58 degrees F!!!! YAY! And the low so far has been 41, but was much colder this morning. We actually felt warm! The humidity averaged 62%. Tonight, the weather is supposed to pick up with winds coming from the South at 6-8 mph and predicting the temperatures at 60 tomorrow!! Wish us that kind of luck! :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We miss not being able to share the holiday with our friends and family, but wish everyone a wonderful day! We are so thankful for all the wonderful friends and family we have and for all the help they have given to us this past year and a half. We love you all so much!

Also today, we are so thankful that we were able to have Emily in our lives for as long as we did and miss her so much! We know that she is with us today, and everyday, helping us to sail this boat south and get through each and every day. We love you Boo and miss you so very much!

Today, we left dock a little later than normal, around 740, with frost lining the paint on our boat and the planks on the dock. It was so cold; we could see our breath in the cabin of the boat. We had to be very careful not to slip. We were very happy to see that no one had bothered us, since the marina was abandoned and had posted “No Trespassing” signs. We felt that we could wiggle out of trouble if the need came. I mean, they did still have a sign posted (bigger, I might add too) that said “Transients Welcome.” I’d say that one took precedent in this matter. I would hope the law would too. :) As we were untying, Bedouin, a smaller sloop, also from Herrington, passed us. We haven’t actually met the owners of Bedouin, but we have seen the boat several times. It appears we will be hopping down the ICW together, which is pretty neat. Maybe we will be able to meet them at some point.

I made us some breakfast on the go this morning while Mom drove us down the narrow channel in North Landing River. North Landing River is a very wide body of water, but only has about 6 feet of water, getting less as near the edges. In the narrow channel, which is very well marked, you have about 10 feet, but know it quickly when you stray outside. Along the way we crossed the line from VA to NC!!! That makes 3 states we have sailed through! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! While Mom was driving, we both perceived this marker to be a red triangle, meaning we needed to keep it to our right (starboard) side. It was covered with Cormorants, a small bird that actually swims like a fish. There were so many it had distorted the shape of the marker. Mom and I had the boat way outside the channel, needless to say. We fixed it without a problem and kind of laughed when we realized the mistake we had made. From then on, we used binoculars to confirm the shape of the markers and direction we were supposed to go.

The cormorants are a strange bird. They can swim like a fish, look a little a duck. They can actually dive and stay underwater for an extraordinary amount of time. Migratory birds, we have seen them in the spring and again this winter, but they headed north for the summer. Today, they stood on every marker watching us as we went by.

During our trip today, we officially switched over from using nautical miles and knots to miles and miles per hour. We will now, until we are out of the ICW being using miles and mph to record our distance and speed.

It is amazing the change of landscapes that we have seen in the past two days. We went from open bay to the city landscape of downtown Norfolk to the outback wilderness of the ICW and now back again into more populous places. We had grassy, marshy meadows, turning to sandy knolls with some low shrubbery. The beach is just East of us, though we cannot see it. I do not believe that we will get to at all, but just knowing it is that close gives us a smile! To aid in the landscape, there were several several sunken boats of various kinds. There was one with the curtains still in the windows. We were talking and could not believe that whoever went to all the trouble of marking the ship wrecks and posting warning markers about them, but not clean any of them up. We determined the owner of the boat wanted the insurance money, and the EPA hadn’t caught on yet. It was daunting to see so many scattered along the edges though… made us want to really stay in the channel.

We stopped in Coinjock at the Coinjock Marina, a nice stop and go kind of place. We were only going to stay for ice and a potty break then head onto Broad Creek for the night, but decided to just stay here for today. It was a really short day today. We only traveled 22 statue miles and ended by 1140 this morning. We wanted to have access to the internet, power, showers, a little general store (with amazing homemade hot dilly beans and relish), and have the time to enjoy an afternoon of relaxation. Tomorrow will be a long day as a result but we decided it was worth. Hey, it’s a holiday!

Instead of turkey, we will be having jumbalaya (no seafood, didn’t think it would make it). The weather was so nice this afternoon, we kicked open all the doors and allowed the fresh air to flow through, something we hadn’t thought about or wanted to do until now. Mom even took a seat in a small Adirondack on the dock and took a nice nap in the sun. Dad and I repaired the speaker wires and I cleaned the inside of the boat. You would not believe how dirty. EW!

Well, we are wishing you all a very warm, nice Thanksgiving! It’s up early tomorrow and off to the next stopping point.

GWHS!