After leaving Portsmouth we arrived at the
Coinjock Marina (about 50 miles) at 2:30 PM. A little town in NC along the
intracoastal with a
population of about 50. Nice restaurant, nice people but we knew all of them within 3 hours. Had a mechanic make some small repairs to get the fresh water system functional, nothing major.
Crossing Albemarle sound. During the last few days numerous people have told us how Albemarle Sound can be very nasty. I guess we got lucky because the sound was flat as a pancake when Sue and I made the crossing.
Beautiful canal systems through NC. The water is very coffee colored from the excessive amounts of tanic acid from the floral growth.
Backup Auto-Pilot
Left Coinjock, NC and traveled to Belhaven, NC. Another one-horse town along the intracoastal. Sue and I took a little stroll down main street at 5:00 in search of a restaurant or diner of some type and found this abandoned town quite eerie. We were the only people or cars on the street. Felt like an abandoned movie set.
Ate dinner, getting a beer was out of the question, swat
mosquitos and retired early in anticipation of casting off in the early AM.
Continued to travel south and decided to stop at Oriental Marina Oriental, NC. What a nice place. There were people, restaurants, a swimming pool,
tiki bars, gift shops and many other signs of life. Most of the people here are local to NC and Oriental Marina had been designated as the marina of choice for the summer and became a hangout for local boaters wanting a two or three
nite mini-vacation.