Five days after leaving Annapolis, we’ve arrived in Belhaven, NC, where we will have Tilia hauled so we can do some work on the bottom of the boat before we head back to Minneapolis in November.
Our trip has been delightfully peaceful and easy, for the most part retracing familiar routes from our trip north. We had a couple of great days moving down the Chesapeake from Annapolis, with enough wind to get our sails up and the right conditions to fly our light wind sail, the spinnaker, again. Each time, it gets a little easier!
After two nights on the Chesapeake, we passed through Norfolk and on to Coinjock Marina, a famous stop on the ICW. Many boaters make a point of stopping overnight here, in large part due to the great dockhands, well organized marina and delicious prime rib dinners at the marina restaurant. The marina consists mainly of two long docks on either side of the ICW (at this point on the journey it’s a straight canal about 200′ wide). They were so full the night we stopped, they even rafted up some boats! For rafting, one boat is tied alongside the dock, and another boat is tied off to the dockside boat. That means the outside boat occupants are climbing across the dockside boat each time they get off or on their boat. We were perfectly happy to tie up at the other side of the ICW from the marina restaurant. We had the dock to ourselves, and it was a short dinghy ride across the ICW to a delicious dinner.
It’s been interesting to see how many boats are moving south. As we expected, as soon as the Annapolis boat show wraped up, liveaboards started heading south for the winter. We went from chilly 48 degree mornings in Annapolis to temperatures closer to 60 overnight and not more than high 70s during the day here in NC. Definitely makes it easier to get up and underway at first light! Despite the large number of boats, we’ve had no trouble finding quiet, calm anchorages each night of our trip. The one exception of course, was our stay overnight at Coinjock Marina, which was well worth it to enjoy their restaurant and hospitality.
