Where are the Channel Markers
Tom departed 07:30 from AYB Marina cutting a path through the ice. After saying goodbye to Ken and Dana (now back from Fla) we threw off our dock lines and motored down the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal (ICW) following in the trail of broken ice left by Tom. It was cold and quiet as we motored-on. There were no delays with bridge openings and the bridge tenders were nice to talk to. The Centerville Bridge Tender ask us to keep a lookout for a pair of sea otters he had seen earlier playing along the canal banks. We didn't see them near the bridge, but we did see them a mile or so down the canal playing and eating. The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal empty into the North Landing River which becomes the Currituck Sound (the ICW flows through these). The ICW was well marked thus far, but (as usual for us) this would all change. When the North Landing River opened up (got wider) the first four green channel markers were either down, in the water and difficult to see, or just not there. Not only were there numerous missing or down green and red channel markers along the way, but some were broken and barely visible in the water. There was a strong north wind blowing which was blowing the water out of the River and Currituck Sound lowering the water levels/depth (already low). This coupled with the missing channel markers made navigation difficult and we had run aground. We dropped our anchor and waited for the water to rise. The sun was setting when the water level improved enough for us to free ourselves from the bottom. Greg was on the bow with a flash light looking for channel markers or anything sticking out of the water as we continued to navigate toward Coinjock Marina and Restaurant, our destination. Unfortunately, in the darkness and without channel markers we went aground again. This time it was Wayne from TowBoatUS who came to our rescue. Wayne pulled us off the bottom and assisted us to Coinjock passing a tug and large barge with only a few feet to spare. Once we were all tied off we went into the Coinjock Resturant for a bite to eat before they closed. Later we were told the recent cold temperatures had frozen the North Landing River and Currituck Sound which is why channel markers are missing, broken, or down.