Coinjock North Carolina

It's my 59th birthday today. We started my celebration with an egg and cheese biscuit at the Alligator River Marina. Apparently they are popular with Loopers. We found them to be ok for convenient store deli food, but not as good as the reviews indicated.

We left the dock at 7:30 to head out into the Albermarle Sound in very calm conditions. There was no wind, but we listened to the sound of waves hitting Mystic's hull broadside all morning. Dave had to work hard to keep us on course and in the channel. Another Looper boat, Panda Bear, joined us and led the way. It took three hours to cross fifteen miles of open water.

Dave is always happy when we're cruising

Happy together

Osprey family at green marker 121

Osprey make a lot of noise

Some of the nests are ginormous!

We saw many swallowtails along the way. We hoped they would settle on Mystic's deck but they just fluttered over us, dancing and floating along with the abundant dragonflies. A dragonfly landed and rested on our stay for a half hour. Dave commented that it must be Uncle Fred, coming to wish me a happy birthday. Before my beloved uncle passed away last year he told me he'd come visit me as a dragonfly if he could.

Insects often hitch a ride with us

We arrived at Coinjock at 12:45. Our first task was to give Mystic a good cleaning. Her hull is covered in green goo from a swarm of midges that joined us overnight. We always manage to get drenched as we clean. It was really hot so our task was refreshing for us. 

Watching a Tow pass us at Coinjock

We needed to do laundry. Coinjock has a laundry room but there is no air conditioning in the small room so we didn't stay inside during the wash and dry periods. Instead we walked around outside. Once our laundry was settled back on the boat we rewarded ourselves with a cold drink at the marina bar. We enjoyed my birthday dinner at the bar. It turned out to be a lovely day!

Panda Bear was on the dock right behind us. Loopers Larry and Flora are from Boston. We'd traveled behind them all day. It's always nice to have company during the long days on the waterway.

Coinjock Marina

You are HERE (Blue tape)

Bar Bling

Free Beer tomorrow!

Ahoy and Happy Birthday!

We met a group of guys at the bar and mentioned that we were heading to Mystic, Connecticut. Patrick, said he grew up in Groton and graduated from the same high school as me. In fact we attended school at the same time. Patrick told us to be careful staying in Connecticut for an extended period of time. The tax man is always watching transient boats. If you stay too long, you'll be asked to pay state taxes on your boat. We found this in many other states. We will have to research the details of this but appreciated the heads up.