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.