Nice calm morning at the free dock in Great Bridge. We called over to the marina across the way to stop in for some diesel. After they had some room at the fuel dock we pushed off and crossed the narrow channel to top up on fuel, and then headed down the ICW.
Our destination today was Coinjock, which is a nice distance stop. We motored down the channel to start, but as things opened up and we had a nice wind behind us, we were able to put out the genoa and run downwind under just sail which was nice. The channel is pretty narrow but it's not to bad with a good wind behind you. Boats passing are a bit tricky but still very doable.
After it opened up it was an easy straight shot down the North Landing River and into Cedar Bay. Things got a bit crazy as we got passed by a bunch of boats in the narrow channel coming down Cedar Bay, and so we put away sails and motored in after everyone else to Coinjock.
Coinjock is a funny name, but is a Native American name that relates to the swamp blueberries that are native to this area (or so I read on a geocache description, neat!).
It was a neat little (but very busy) marina, with just a long peer along both sides of the channel. We were directed in and helped to tie up at the pilings. Showers were in order, and we always seem to have some laundry to do. Got those done, and went out for a nice dinner at the restaurant there. Known for their prime rib, it was a very large and delicious dinner. Nice little ship store on site as well, which has just about everything a cruiser could need. We got some wine, caramel corn, 3M 4200, cleaning supplies and batteries. An amusing to me combination of things.
Did a nice freshwater rinse of the boat, and watched some shows with Aria, then off to bed.
Looking at the chart, some might ask why we didn't take the Dismal Swamp route. This is a popular and ultimately very cool route to take. We looked into it, but our draft (6ft) is a bit tight for it, and we didn't really want to take that chance. So we are taking the main ICW route here.
