Passage from Coinjock to Manteo Waterfront Marina, NC 31 NM

After we helped get our neighbor’s rafted boat untied from Liquid Therapy, we got underway about 8:45. We had a nice ride heading south on the North River to the Albemarle Sound. We were passed by a few boats. Everyone was courteous in passing us.

All the snowbird boats cross the Albemarle to the Alligator River to continue south on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway ( AICW ). We hang a left and for 11 miles are on the same course heading for Roanoke Island and Manteo Harbor. The wind is behind us and we have a very good ride. We dodge a few crab pots. We leave the Albemarle Sound as we round the north end of Roanoke Island and enter the Roanoke Sound. It’s only a few miles to the channel leading to Manteo.

Docking - I’d say was close to a 10. We had the wind on our nose. We had a gazebo in my turning space that I had to watch closely. I had to turn the boat 180º to back into the slip. Hard port over and several shifts rotated Liquid Therapy and we backed into the slip. Susan handled the stern spring and I put tension on that line to pull stern back to the dock. We then secured the other spring line, then the bow and stern lines. All of that was without any dock hands helping. Manteo does not have a dockmaster. So, it was a 10 docking.

We were greeted by two men that had been watching us dock from the gazebo. They said we did a great job docking. We had so much fun talking to them. They were staying on the boat on the other side of us. One man said his wife was the captain and he really didn’t run the 55’ boat. Then we met the captain wife. We had so much in common. She and I talking non stop about navigation, destinations, fuel filters, generators, inverters. I felt like I met me. She has only been running a boat FOUR years. And, it’s a 55’ boat.

We are going to be at Manteo for four days. We like this place a lot.

Today’s picture is an eagle keeping watch over Coinjock as we pass by.