Today, Kelly took Mike to the airport and spent the rest of the day watching movies with the dogs.

There is a joke in the family over the years that mechanical things go wrong when Mike is not around. At about 11 pm, the spot light at the bow turned on and spun around all by itself. It got stuck in position and made a loud clicking noise.  Kelly could not find the switch to turn it off. Mike was at dinner and Jen was driving.  Michael tried to help but didn’t know where the switch was either. After about 30 minutes, Jen was able to call Kelly and tell her where the switch was. It was a toggle switch (not labeled) that was half way between on and off. A few minutes later, the light started clicking again. Took a while to figure out that the same switch in between the on and off position is at the flybridge also. Note:  the clicking was very loud and Kelly was concerned about waking neighbor boats. …..all taken care of for the night.   

Today, we rented a car and did some clothes shopping for Mike for his work trip to Chicago next week. It felt like a day at home running errands!

In the evening, the marina had a party with food, drinks, and music for their guests. We enjoyed the event with a fellow boater, and his future son in law.  They loved hearing about our trip and we enjoyed his life stories and time in the military. The best part of the trip is meeting so many great people. Afterwards, we went back to the boat to watch the Harborfest fireworks across the river in Norfolk. Great day. 

The dogs hated the fireworks, especially Harley. Not having his mom (Jen) here is hard on him tonight. He will most likely have firework PTSD for the next week or so… poor guy.

Because the marina ties up the boats so close to each other (the sailboat was almost under our bow anchor), we were a bit nervous leaving in the morning.  Fortunately, every boat was gone before we left at 8 am. The dockhands held the line on our bow so we could maneuver the stern out and the current pulled us into the canal. Easy peasy!

The spacing of the bridge openings and the lock were a bit tricky. We needed to manage our speed to avoid arriving at a bridge opening to early/late because some open on the hour. Mike did the calculations the night before and it worked perfectly. Another boat (that didn’t plan) followed our lead. Sometimes, we sped up and/or slowed down to avoid the risk of maintaining position in front of bridge.  

The Great Bridge Lock was a new experience. We watched videos last night and it looked easy. As we approached the lock, we caught up another boat that had experience with the lock. The Lockmaster heard the 3 of us boats discussing the process and joined the conversation. He gave us confidence by telling us our plan was correct. We really did not need to stress over it. It was fun and easy.

Once we entered the lock, we parallel parked on the port side which has the fenders on the wall. The Lockmaster used his hook to grab the line from us, he looped it around a huge cleat and handed the line back to us. Once Kelly had the bow line, Mike left the helm and took the stern line. The water change was about a foot so it happened fairly quickly. 

When it was time to leave, we pulled our lines back to the boat and the current gently pulled us away from the wall. And, off we went! The lock transitioned us from salt water to brackish water (mix of salt and fresh water).

Arriving at Portsmouth across from Norfolk was a big change in scenery.  We are now in the city! Tidewater Marina is a Suntex Marina and after telling the manager about our travels and all the Suntex Marinas we’ve stayed at, he gave us a big discount! Yay!!

There’s tons of pictures, but if you make it to the end of the slide show you’ll get to see cute Bonnie pictures.

Today, Kelly spent the day doing laundry and cleaning while Mike worked. The laundry facilities were convenient with large washers. It helped to get it all done quickly.

In the evening, we ate at the restaurant with the famous prime rib! It did not disappoint. Mike had the 36 ounce prime rib, Kelly had the fried chicken and we topped off the meal with lemon cake. It was a great meal!

Traveling to Coinjock was an easy trip. Crossing the Albemarle Sound was relatively flat and we had little wind. It is known for being a bit choppy and challenging. We were able to choose a good day and did not have any problems.  After the Albemarle Sound, we traveled through the North River to Coinjock. It was calm and quiet. The trees, plant life and few houses made it a relaxing trip.  

Some looper will elect to take the Dismal Swamp Canal because it is said to be one of the most beautiful journeys along the loop. It is a very narrow and shallow canal. The trees draping over the canal protect it from wind which creates a mirror reflection in the water. The beauty of the canal comes with risks. Many boats have kicked up logs in the shallow waters and caused damage to their boat. While we would have loved to see it, we decided our 4.5 foot draft boat was too much of a risk.

Arriving at Coinjock Marina was easy. It is a long strip along the river to tie up too.  We were one of the first boats to arrive. It was like parallel parking on a street with few cars around! By sunset, the marina was full with very large boats that stayed for the night.  

Shortly after we arrived, a sailboat that we passed along the way arrived. They are a nice family from Switzerland. They bought the boat in Canada and were exploring America. It was fun to hear about their travels. Their two young daughters enjoyed helping Kelly walk the dogs. Kelly walked Harley while the girls walked Bonnie and Teddy. Bonnie figured out quickly that she could do the leading and go wherever she wanted. The girls really enjoyed it.

Coinjock Marina is nice. It is definitely a cash cow for the owner. Huge boats use it as a stopping point and pay the higher daily rate of $2 foot for their 50-100 foot yacht and enjoy the restaurants 36 ounce prime rib dinner. We have reservation for tomorrow. They are very professional and we really enjoyed watching the boat traffic.

Tacos for dinner.

In the morning, we pulled away before Mike started work. The owner at the marina taught us a better way to move away from dock in a parallel parking situation without risking our swim platform. Since we don’t have thrusters it’s a challenge to turn out without crunching the back. He held a line at the bow while Mike put the starboard gear forward. The stern swung out into the fairway, and he backed us out. We looked like professionals!

Our travel was calm and easy which helped because Kelly needed to drive while Mike worked! Kelly thinks she saw a bald eagle which was the first we saw since Louisiana. So cool.

We were going to anchor at the end of Alligator River but decided to stay at the marina since the rate was $1.86 a foot for overnight docking (total was $78). It was a good decision because we got to finally meet Sam on Tidbit. We had some fried chicken at the marina together and shared stories. Sam is traveling by himself which is so impressive.

In the morning, Kelly did some shopping at the couple of shops open on a Monday. And, spent the afternoon into the early evening cleaning the boat.Wishes had a lot of salt on her from water coming over the bow during travels. It was a long process to scrub her, but she looks much better. That evening we did 3 loads of free laundry. It was a late night but glad we got it done for our travels the next day.

We enjoyed Spoon River restaurant so much that we decided to go there for breakfast….and it is the only place open. The food was once again very good. We didn’t order the Bloody Mary because we know it won’t be as good as Stuffed Pig in Marathon!  Ha

After dinner, we walked around town even though most of it was closed and then relaxed in the gazebo at the marina. It was quiet with a nice breeze. We enjoyed being lazy so much that we forgot about dinner so walked over to the pub and had pizza.

The day before, a center console boat docked in a spot that would make it nearly impossible to get out of our slip. Mike and Kelly didn’t sleep well stressing about how to get out of the space in the morning because we wanted to leave early. We try to get out of slips early before Mike starts work. Luckily, someone was on the boat in the morning and agreed to move it for us. Kent and Katie on Silver Linings, helped us get out. Pulling the boat out of the slip is tricky to make sure your swim platform doesn’t swing into anything. Water was calm, like it usually is early in the morning, and we got out just fine.  Thank you, Katie and Kent!

Our trip was a welcoming cool weather. Sometimes it is nice to put on a sweatshirt! We had few bridges which Mike usually does.

We arrived at Belhaven Marina around 5 pm. It was a face dock (parallel parking) with no one there. We were easily pulled up and tied off. The marina is a cute marina. The owner is friendly and helpful. He provided good guidance on docking which doesn’t usually happen. The showers were decorated which is rare and had free towels, also rare.

We ate dinner at Spoon River which is said to be one of the best restaurants in North Carolina. Funny that it is in such a small town of only 1600 people. The was empty except for this restaurant. It was packed. The owner showed us to the wine room for us to pick our wine while we waited – nice touch. It was fun to see the bottles and look them up before we decided. The food was great, and the restaurant is nicely decorated.  On travel days, we don’t eat much so we were hungry for dinner!

While Mike worked, Kelly spent the day with Katie, Ruby and Violet on Silver Linings touring the town. We visited the local historic cemetery, and we rode on the double decker tour bus. We learned about the local history and architecture.  

Fun fact, houses that have a flat section on a peak roof with a railing around it is called a “widows walk”.  The wife would stand on the roof looking out to sea waiting for her sailor husband to return.

 After work, Mike and Kelly had lunch at Black Sheep next to the marina on the waterfront. We had a very good shrimp pizza. After, Mike went back to work for the afternoon and Kelly did some shopping.  It rained so she had to rush between stores. She bought some wooden blocks with the nautical lettering spelling “Beck”. Not sure where we will put it on the boat, but it is cool.

Our freezer hasn’t been holding its temperature lately. We defrosted it thinking it would help but it is getting worse. It is only at just above freezing so we are trying up to use the partially thawed food. We brought 2 pork tenderloins to Silver Linings and cooked them at their boat (their boat is bigger and can accommodate all of us). While it was cooking, the girls showed us some of their artwork. They are both talented. Violet has been making dog treats to save up some money to buy a henna kit. Kelly and Violet negotiated 2 bags of dog treats for $5….and the dogs love them! It was a great night just sitting around the table talking with great friends.