After a delightful evening in River Dunes, we headed out for one of the funkiest places on the ICW, Coinjock North Carolina. It is considered by most mariners to be a "have to" stop because it is the only place before Norfolk that you can dock, get fuel and some dinner. This little marina has 1050 feet of bulkhead dock space right on the waterway and they stack the boats in like sardines. During transient season, it is full every night. They also have a "famous" restaurant (yeah, it's called the Coinjock Restaurant), and they are known for their 32 ounce prime rib -- of course you can get the petite portion weighing in at a mere 16 ounces! With a dock full of sailboats, yachts and mega yachts, it is the most eclectic crowd and experience you can possibly imagine.
The next morning, we only had to run 50 miles to Norfolk, but this little stretch takes a long time -- like 5 hours. There are a number of bridges and a lock on restricted timing so unless you get there in time (or you get there too early) you can sit and "spin" while waiting for the next opening. Add to that mix a lot of other boats doing the same thing, a few 80 foot tugs pushing 300 foot barges and military operations coming into Norfolk and it's easy to see how this can be intimidating and frustrating to many folks. One of the great thing about Endless Summer is that it is equipped with a GPS technology called "Skyhook" where you can simply press a button at the helm and it will hold it's place in the water automatically. It is a pretty amazing feature and one that we use all the time to hold our spot on the water while waiting for bridges, locks, fuel docks and rigging the lines before docking. Takes a lot of the stress out of the process!
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| Tugs and barges were everywhere |
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| Getting ready to follow this barge into the Great Bridge Lock |
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| Passing some of the military operations in Norfolk |
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