On Thursday, September 1, we cruised down from Atlantic Yacht Basin to Coinjock Marina for their annual Labor Day festivities. WherethehellisCoinjock, as one of their tee shirts advertises. It is mile 49.4 on the ICW or about 50 miles south of Norfolk. Our friends from Deltaville and then Smithfield, Lin & Cheryl, Art & Gail, and Randy & Kathy all arrived on Friday afternoon. We had cocktails and appetizers on the dock followed by this crab feast shown below. On Saturday, September 3, the women were taken shopping and to a private wine tasting at Sanctuary Vineyards. We made it back to the boats in time for cocktails on the dock.

After several days of waiting for better forecasts for Albemarle Sound and the Neuse River, we left on Wednesday, September 7. The forecast and reality were not in sync -- forecast was SE winds 10-15 mph with waves 1'; reality was S winds 15+ with waves 2'-3' coming at us on the bow and beam. An extremely uncomfortable ride of 15 miles across Albemarle Sound.

After a stop at Dowry Creek Marina, we pulled into Sailcraft Service, our home away from home, in Oriental for a short haul. Everything looked great after a thorough pressure washing by Bert so we went back into the water and cruised around to "downtown" Oriental to stay at the Marina & Inn for several days. The town had been hit hard by Irene so not everything was back to normal and may not be for quite some time. Our friends, Brenda & Geoff, came over from Morehead City one night and told us they may be back on the water as they are looking at trawlers. Can't wait...

On Monday, September 12, we left Oriental and arrived at Marina Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach on Wednesday, September 14. We had dinner with Joe & Dale who brought us Jim's SUV, spent the next few days packing stuff, and drove to the condo on Sunday, September 18. We plan to return in early October, organize all the stuff we bring back, and then head south for the winter.