Day 7 (Sat, Nov 19): We made our way past the parade of immense Naval Ships. They are quite a site…all shapes, sizes and they stretch on for miles. We made it through the array of bridges. I learned a lot about handling Gaia at slow speeds. Al was correct again, it is best to bring up the rear. I would keep her slow and circle if needed to come in at the end of the pack. This would keep the old girl out of the swarm of other boats. Gaia is simply not that maneuverable in tight quarters given her hull shape and full keel.
A real blow to our schedule came when the operator closed the bridge just after a lock and stopped two of us from passing through. It led to a very tense, after dark run to Coinjock. Stupid… and foolish, not to mention extremely dangerous. OK, learned our lesson and we will not let that happen again. Taught us quite a bit about planning and fall back locations. Any landing… but this one was stressful. I was driving, Patrick was on the bow of Gaia looking for stumps or crab pots. We navigated through some very tight and winding stretches in total darkness. Most intense video game I have ever played. Not going to do that again! Then, I handed Gaia back over to Patrick for the last 15 minute stretch into Coinjock and the docking procedure. Luckily the little stretch had a restaurant and a few lights. Patrick brought Gaia into town, we circled around to the other side of the canal and found a small section the marina crew had kept clear for us. We pulled Gaia near, in quite a bit of current… with a fellow passer by helping to grab a bow line. A few tense moments later and Gaia was parked. We tucked her in and ran to the pub to get a nice dinner and a few beers. “Patrick and Gaia done good.” I am beginning to trust both of them more. I know I will need to as this journey continues.
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