Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Manteo - Coinjock Marina

FOG. OK I can see the 1st marker. BUT, not much more. We have to wait until that lifts a bit. It’s 11:30 and has cleared up a bit. I call Coinjock and they say the fog is gone. We get underway for the 42 mile run. I have the game plan in my head and the route loaded into my iPad.
So, it’s a little foggy as we leave the dock I can see marker to marker and I have my AIS (Automatic Identification service) running with collision alarms tightened up a bit.

We get to the first marker in the harbor and the fog gets dense again. I see an AIS target running 19 knots in the Roanoke Sound channel! I am creeping along the Manteo channel at 4 knots not to overdrive my eyes. I slow to a crawl not to meet this guy where the two channels intersect. Then he slows and on my screen he has turned down the Manteo channel. I maintain steerage speed and stay way to my side of the channel. I can see from the AIS we should meet port to port ( like two cars on a 2 lane road ). Finally we see each other and pass safely. The other boat had run into the fog bank and that is why he had slowed down about a mile before the channel. So, the Albemarle Sound would be fine visibility once I get to it.

I exit the Mateo channel onto the Roanoke Sound channel that leads to the Albemarle Sound and the fog gets better. I hear a few boats confirming meeting situations and I pass several more in the fog seeing them first on my AIS screen. Of course most boat do not have AIS so I have to keep a close watch out for those visually.
The Albemarle is clear and I finally get to a point where I can set the Autopilot for the 16 mile run across the Albemarle. Now all I have to do is dodge crab pots. We are in bright sunshine and then I notice I cannot see the shoreline anymore to the north. The fog comes backing patches but nothing like we had encountered earlier.
The rest of the passage is pretty easy and the fog starts settling back in just as we approach the Coinjock bridge. We get tied up at the dock and chat with fellow boaters and are very tired.
The fog has made us more tired than a bouncy day.
A little TV and poof we are asleep.

Today’s picture is the fog view from the Manteo Dock.