Day 15 - Coinjock, NC to Portsmouth, Virginia

A day late with the blog - took a break last nite, since today is a layover day in Portsmouth. Day 15 was one of our short days - only 49 miles, but it turned out to be our longest day ...

Leaving Coinjock - another day with perfect weather. Here's a business all set up for you, Amy -





This barge looked a lot bigger in real life than it does in this photo, as we had to move to the side (make that "shallow" side) to let Lorette pass.




We made great time for the first 30 miles, hitting all the bridge openings just right. We entered a small lock, and the fun began. What should have taken 10 minutes took over 2 1/2 hours - we found out later there was a log jammed at the bottom of the gates and they couldn't get it closed.







We'd only been in one lock before, in our little boat, with Captain Matt when we went to Lake Okeechobee. That was exciting, as the water depth rose by about 12 feet. This was anticlimactic - once they got the gate closed, we really couldn't tell whether the water went up or down! We did have company, as this mother goose was sitting on a nest just a few feet from our bow.





Everyone raced out of the lock, only to have to wait another 40 minutes or so for a bridge opening ...





In no time, we came into the Norfolk / Portsmouth area - quite a change from some of the little sleepy ports o'call we'd visited.















We settled in at Tidewater Marina around 5pm. We'd also discovered a small fuel leak in the port engine during the day, so the guys will spend our off day figuring out if they can MacGyver it (we've got a backup plan with the Yanmar dealer for Monday morning). On the positive side, this is our first mechanical issue, and it happened when we had a day off - and when we came into one of the larger ports we'll be visiting. Had a nice evening - Jayne made spaghetti (non-Diablo style!), then early to bed.