October 20

Once again a beautiful day with no wind. We have just come out of Coinjock with a lot of twists and turns and no water except for a very narrow channel. We were passed by two power boats and have two cats and two large sailboats behind us. 

Today is the day we really test our ability o do the ICW. Yes I know it is a little late for that, but I have been worring about the low bridges for over a year. Irish Mist was built to do the waterway. Our mast is 63 feet, but when you add anchor lights, wind instructments and a vhf antena. We are 66 feet. The antena bends but the other bits do not. The gentleman who owns Onward a Catalina 47 has charted all the 65 foot bridges rating some at 1, no problem and some at 5, big problem.

The Coinjock Bridge is a 5. The good news is it has just had new height boards installed. We were told at the marina that the water was low. It gets high with a south wind. For the last two days the wind has been strong and from the north or west. When we arrived at the bridge the boards showed almost 66 feet. We motored under and only touched the antena.

We are now headed for either Manteo or Wanchese. 

The bridge

Coinjock