A Tale of Two Chemists: Coinjock to the Albemarle to the Alligator River

Coinjock to the Albemarle to the Alligator River

Tuesday 3rd November 2020

Where do they get these names? Here, at anchor off Tuckahoe Pt in the Alligator River, we have no cell phone service, which means ... no internet so we can't satisfy our curiosity regarding the origins of these names.

It also means that today's blog won't appear until tomorrow, Nov 4. It also means we won't get any news about the election, either. That's probably a good thing as drinking enough to stay calm would seriously deplete the liquor stores aboard.

In case you've noticed a change in style in this blog, it's because Gloria's brother Rod is writing this "episode".

I actually joined them in Portsmouth, VA on Sunday, flying into Norfolk from RI.

Ever since I caught the sailing bug back in 1983, the idea of traversing some or all of the Intracoastal Waterway has been in the back of my mind. While discussing their trip south, Mike and Gloria invited me to join them for part of the trip, which explains why I am writing this blog from this place.

Picking up the thread from the last post (which I couldn't finish as the cell service just dropped out again), we awoke to some pretty chilly temps this AM in Coinjock. We were tied up alongside the quay at the marina, sort of like cars are parked at the curb, and probably closer together. The early departure of many other large powerboats, with bow and stern thrusters, left us space to get Cotinga off the quay with a lot less stress than yesterday's docking.

Today's leg was just a bit over 50 miles, but in much more comfortable conditions. The Gusty winds of yesterday had subsided to 12-15 kts out of the West.

The first 15 miles or so of the leg were under motor as we were still in a narrow "cut" without room to maneuver. Once we finished this section, we entered the Albemarle Sound with plenty of room to sail. Hoisting mainsail and unfurling the genoa, we took off like a bat out of hell on a close to beam reach on a W to WNW breeze of 12-15 kts. Cotinga fairly flew over the next 12 miles. The knot-meter never went below 8 knots and occasionally hit 9 knots. Mike let me hog the wheel for the entire time! The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and & we actually started warming up. Considering that I never expected to be able to sail at all, this was glorious.

All too soon, we had to cross through the Alligator River turnbridge and needed to take in the sails. Inasmuch as the wind started to drop to 4-6 knots, this worked out fine.

Another 15 miles or so got us to our current location, anchored in 10 feet of water off Tuckahoe Pt. It is really quiet and lovely here with no signs of civilization and only one other boat in this anchorage.

Rod