VAB to Portsmouth: We left Cavalier Yacht Club in Virginia Beach on Tuesday 11/3/2015. It was a little cloudy but a nice day. We said goodbye to Andrew and Sassy on Angela Dawn. We will see them again down the road. 
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| Michael and Judy |
Michael and Judy Hechtkopf waved from their house as we passed. We waved at Jay and Sandy's house but they were at work.
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| Casa Hechtkopf |
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| Jay and Sandy Tischler's house |
It was a peaceful trip out to the Bay. We passed crabbers, saw the beautiful homes then we saw the pilot boats. Matt Hechtkopf was at work but we didn't see him. 
Many of the bridges we passed, starting with the big bridge over the Lynnhaven Inlet, are under construction. It is very interesting to see how they handle construction on waterways. The equipment is on barges. They often use little boats to move equipment and people around to work areas or to move barricades.  |
| The Harrier Jet landing at the Naval Air Field |
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| A Harrier Jet |
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| Finally we see a submarine! |
The Chesapeake Bay was a little bumpier than we would have liked but
nothing terrible. It was sunny and warm so we didn't mind a few bumps. It takes several hours to move east around the Norfolk penninsula. Along the way we saw some cool Naval equipment including a Harrier and a Hover craft that passed us a high speed very close by our boat.
We finally saw a Submarine under way! The wake was really big. I guess they are moving very fast, faster than they look. There were escort boats in front and back to keep boats like us away but we clicked away with the camera! clos to our boat. 
Everyone who travels this way by boat has their own photos of these huge naval ships in the boat yard but it is truly awesome and awe-inspiring. 
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| Lots of traffic |
We stayed overnight at Ocean Marine so we could be positioned to go down the river to the Intercoastal Waterway. The marina was filled with sailboats starting a rally to the Bahamas. We met some of these boats again later in the week in Morehead City when a few already broke down. The boat next to us had an electrician on board. The boat across the dock from us had an anchor on the dock. Not sure how useful it will be but they are sailboaters; hard to tell what they are thinking.
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| Heading south in a big parade |
· Portsmouth to Coinjock: We got a late start the next morning, leaving around 8am. We got to Coinjock about 3pm. This early part of the ICW has lots of bridges and one lock. It seemed to take forever. We traveled with lots of traffic – always with at least 10 boats. In fact I think we had 12 boats in the lock for the giant drop of about 3 feet.
The water was like glass all day long. These are some of my favorite shots of wonderful, calm water just glistening under a cloudy sky. So pretty. We really enjoyed this travel.
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| My new favorite photo |
We met a nice fellow from Minnesota who just picked
up his boat a few days earlier in Baltimore – a nice 380 Carver aft cabin named Nomad Dad. He is traveling with his brother and brother-in-law; Nice people. His brother is losing some sharpness
after a stroke. We traveled with them to Belhaven then heard him on radio on the
way to Morehead City. It was funny because he was learning how to boat as he traveled. We would hear him on the radio apologizing for the wake as he passed a slower boat. He will get the hang of it!
Coinjock Marina is a long wall along the east side of the river. They carefully wedge as many boats in their as they possibly can. Boats of all sizes including some huge yachts. It is a mini-boat show right on the wall. They provide all services with such positive, supportive friendliness that it is no wonder that people come back year after year. They greet you nicely, tie you up in a flash, pump you out, fill up with fuel then feed you all for a very reasonable price with a smile. We will be back!
Coinjock to Belhaven: Next morning we were up at dawn, leaving at 6:30am for a really long day.
The water was perfect again. This part of the trip has more bridges. We started out with a crowd then started losing some of the boats as sailboats slowed down and faster boats sped ahead of us.
We encountered a troll under one of the bridges. He came on the radio (we heard him up ahead before we encountered him) with a slow calm speech about how he was taking pictures of all boats that passed putting out a wake. He planned to turn the pictures over to the coast guard. I think most people sped up a little just to annoy him!
We were surprised by three naval jets that buzzed us as we crossed the northern part of the Albamarle Sound going towards the Alligator River. It was so cool! We got a bunch of pictures. These are some of the nicest. 
Finally we got to Behaven Waterway Marina, a quaint marina owned by locals, really nice people who live in an RV on the property. The town is tiny, two streets. We walked right past the best restaurant in 50 miles to eat at a local oyster bar. I am not sure how that happened. But we did get to experience red neck coronas! Kermit ordered a peck of oysters for $10. This turned out to be a a
bowl of about a dozen oysters already shucked. Yum! Not.  |
| Beautiful sunset at Belhaven NC |
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| Redneck Coronas are Pabst!! |
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| A peck of oysters fits into a small bowl |
· Belhaven to Morehead City: We left at 6:45am to perfect water and sunshine. The Pamlico and Albermarle sound flat as glass. We saw more fishing boats than before.
Jack is very comfortable. Now he routines joins us on the deck while we drive. I swear he has the spirit of Rusty in him!
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| This guy is processing fish |
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Little confusion coming in to Morehead trying to pick which way to go in the fork in the road but we arrived safe and sound in Morehead City around 3pm.
Docking was no fun. Captains tip of the week: when sterning in to a slip don’t have the wheel turned all the way – it backs in funny with a 4mph cross current. It took us so long to get positioned and actually dock the boat that the folks on the sailboat nearby lost interest and went back to their boat! Finally we made it with no damage. That is the measure of a good docking experience, right?
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Saturday we had a fun day with my sister Martha who lives only about 1.5 hours away. She used to dive near here so she is very familiar with Morehead City and Beaufort right across the river. It was a gorgeous da – 80 degrees and
sunny, crystal clear skies,
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| Dieter enjoying Radio Island - a quiet moment |
We visited Radio Island where Martha used to dive, then drove to Beaufort where we had a leisurely visit through the Maritime Museum with a great exhibit on Blackbeard's ship the Queen Anne's Revenge found just outside the Beaufort Inlet. The coolest parts of the exhibit were seeing the plate that Martha and her friends brought to the surface and a couple of items that are actually kind of gross: a leather tube that was part of Blackbeard's toilet system (the sign said this was as close as we could come to Blackbeard), a HUGE syringe to administer enemas, and a syringe used as a catheter to administer mercury to cure venereal disease. SO COOL!!
We visited the barn where they still make wooden boats - one of Martha's favorite places to hang out, then we sat and relaxed with some ice tea and diet coke to enjoy the sun. All in all it was very relaxing.
Martha took me to grocery store where we tapped
into Harris Teeters super special buy 2 get 3 bags of lays potato chips – we
are stocked now!
As we returned from the store we ran into a new friend, Dean, Turns out he is the son of a friend we met on the Loop. Tanya completed the loop solo earlier this year. We met her in 2013 in Bald Head as she was deciding whether she wanted to do the loop. Then we met her again in Little Current in the North Channel of Lake Huron! Isn't it a small world? Dean pulled in next to us in a
sailboat he just bought. We invited him to dinner with Martha. Kermit grilled chicken and steak for a feast on
the back of the boat – chicken, steak, garlic bread, butternut squash ravioli
in brown butter with walnuts, and salad.
It is Monday night as I write this (11/9/2015). We had solid rain Sunday and Monday so we stayed put in Morehead City. We plan to move tomorrow, rain or not. Next up: Topsail and Wrightsville Beach down the ICW.
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