Coinjock Maneuvers
Saturday 8th May 2021
The Coinjock Marina is essentially one long dock along a canal section of the ICW. The marina has a well-oiled process for getting all the boats tied up. At this time of year, with many boats making their way either north or south, it’s pretty much essential to have a booking. The marina a calculates with great precision how many boats they can fit end-to-end with minimal space in between. We originally booked in for tonight (Saturday) and when we asked if they could fit us in a day early it was far from certain they had space – but it did work out in the end. As you approach the marina you call them on the VHF radio and when you are within a few hundred yards they give you specific directions on which way to face and where to approach. In most cases they seem to want to bring you in next to the previous boat and once stationary alongside the dock they walk you back so there is maybe 2 or 3 feet between you and the previous boat. Then they bring in the next customer in order of arrival. We have always thought that at 46 feet long Cotinga is a big boat. It was a little surprising last night to realize that we were the smallest boat on the dock.
Early this morning (before 7 am) many boats departed. We had a leisurely start, did some laundry and then went out for a walk to look for birds. When we returned we discovered the marina staff had opened up one large space on the dock by moving us up directly behind “Buckpasser”, a massive 120 foot long mega-yacht. Gloria researched some interesting facts on the Inter-webs … “Buckpasser” has space for 8 guests and 8 crew, it cruises at 10 knots (with a maximum speed of 12 knots) and burns 30 gallons of diesel an hour at that speed. However, with a fuel capacity of more than 10,000 gallons it has a range of over 4,000 mile, that's assuming the auxiliary fuel tank contains diesel rather than aviation jet fuel for the optional helicopter! It carries 5,000 gallons of fresh water and has reverse osmosis equipment capable of generating 1500 gallons of fresh water per day. Our uncompromising stainless steel bow roller is about three feet away from the stern of “Buckpasser” … can you imagine the cost $$$$ of screwing up our departure from the dock and scraping the back of this boat?!!!
Later in the day a sailboat from Virginia arrived and is docked right behind us. We figured out a plan for leaving tomorrow … then three other companion sailboats arrived. One of these is now “rafted” alongside the boat behind us effectively making it impossible (or at the least unwise) for us to get out before the other sailboats. They plan to leave before 8 am tomorrow so it’s no problem and actually means we might get some sleep tonight rather than fretting about dock departure maneuvers!
Today we met Diane and Dick aboard a beautiful 57 foot Nordhaven powerboat "Dana Sue". It turns out that like us, they are members of East Greenwich Yacht Club and are bringing their new (to them) boat up from Naples. It’s a small world.
Mike
36 20.889 N, 75 56.951 W
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