Elizabeth City to Coinjock

The run from Elizabeth City to Coinjock was interesting - especially since I had slept thru it coming in, so it was all new to me. Who knew that there is a Coast Guard Air Station there? Certainly not I. We met a CG flier who is living in our marina. He told us that they train all the rescue swimmers there, so it's important to recreational boaters as well as "real" seamen. There is also a blimp base of some sort. The only blimp in evidence is a weather station that is permanently tethered, but there is a huge hangar for blimps that is easily seen from the waterway. There are also a number of very nice neighborhoods right on the water. Clearly the suburbs of Elizabeth City extend a long way.

We ran down the Pasquotank River back to the Sound and then turned immediately north up the North River to head to Coinjock. It is located midway between the North River and the Currituck Sound on a canal that was constructed between the two bodies of water. The Currituck Sound is so shallow at its southern end that it is not navigable for most boats, so the canal was built 100 years ago to create a deep channel for shipping and transportation. The "cut" winds thru the marshes and is a pretty cruise. Don had me take the helm for most of that part of the trip, altho I relinquished it at the bridge - about 150 yards before arriving at the marina.

This is the same place that we stayed two weeks ago on our first night underway. It has a nice pool - where many of us spent a good bit of the afternoon - and a good restaurant. Coinjock is a tiny little wide spot in the road, altho it is smack in the middle of the Land of the Midgetts and the birthplace of my stepdad. It's really just a place for laying up overnight before taking the last run up to Norfolk. There's really nothing to see or do (except fish from the dock).

Yesterday nearly everyone was tired and a bit out of sorts. Today it seems that most of us have gotten a second wind and are "up and perky" again. It may be like the seventh inning stretch.

It occurs to me that I have not described the evening ritual cocktail party. Regardless of the activities of the day, we have gathered every evening at 5:30 for cocktails - sometimes on a boat, sometimes on a dock, or sometimes somewhere we have discovered. There was a list prepared well in advance of who is responsible for h'ors d'oerves each evening. One couple dropped out at the last minute, so Mitchell and I took their assigned day. It was also arranged so that the people who only spent the first week with us did their turns first, so we have all done this week. Now we are out of assignees, so we are pooling whatever we have left. MA is quite wrapped up in the planning and execution of each evening's cocktail party, so we are the first to know of any change in plans. Everyone brings his or her own beverage, altho one couple supplied Margaritas three evenings. She had won the poker run pot, and donated her winnings for the purchase of tequila.

After dinner we sometimes split up and go different places for dinner, but more often all show up at the same restaurant. We have overwhelmed several establishments by arriving en masse. We ate spaghetti on the boat two nights, which was fun, but have mostly eaten the local seafood everywhere.

I'm sorry to be heading into the very last leg of this wonderful vacation. Stay tuned.