5/1/17 thru 5/3/17

Oh, forgot to tell you, a 230' cruise ship came into Coinjock too!!

Cruiseship coming by...

boats rafting up

Sandrobber

Us leaving, going by cruise ship

Our plans were to stay only one night, but that quickly changed. Had a big rain during the night, and with that added onto the earlier rains, the next morning there was lots and lots of water on the docks, roads, yards, etc.................we couldn't even walk to the restaurant. To give you an idea, there is just a wall to side tie up to, 1/4 mi long. There were lots of boats here, almost a "full house"! We only had a 40 mile trip the next day, so we did not plan to leave early. There were lots of vessels that did leave early though. After we got up and Sonny was moping the rain off the decks, he noticed a parade of boats (the ones that had left early) returning to the marina. Didn't take us long to figure out. Something was up!!! There are 2 swing bridges several miles upstream, only 3-4 feet off the water. Because of these rains, the water had gotten into the mechanisms of the bridge, so they were closed! Until further notice! Therefore, the boats turned around. So upon return, it was kinda like working a puzzle to get the boats back in; plus.................there are more boats arriving all through the day because they have reservations. The puzzle gets more complicated. Now we are rafting up. We ended up with a sailboat tied to us.....
We had a blast all day watching this fiasco!!!

4/29/17 thru 5/1/17

After spending 11 days in New Bern, we leave @ 7am for a 72 mile run to River Forest Marina for a one night stay. Four of those days in New Bern were spent attending seminars on traveling north through New York, into Canada and then Lake Michigan heading south in the late summer. It was so nice to meet up with some friends we hadn't seen in a long while, plus we made new friends too!
We left with our old friends, Sandrobber and Act III and plan on traveling with them through the summer.
River Forest Marina is in Belhaven, NC, a cute coastal town with lots of history. We borrowed their golf cart and rode into town for dinner @ Jack's Tavern.
We left the next morning and traveled 54 miles to Alligator River Marina. Unusual marina,  we tied up to a wall that was only feet away...............
The next morning we left @ 6:30 to cross The Albemarle Sound then on to the marina @ Coinjock, NC. The last 5 miles of the 37 we traveled today got pretty rough.

Sonny n Marena with Michael n Margo (Cockatoo); boat name: The Perch!

Farmers Mkt Bear

Cunningham Bridge b4 entering New Bern

A friend took these pics as we left New Bern

Marina as we left w/Doubletree Hotel in background

River Forest Manor in Belhaven, built in early 1900's

Alligator River Marina (see CorkScrew in background)