October 31

To say that this last day of the month was a long one is put a very mild stamp on it. We started early. Because of the time change, the sun was now on its regular time and we moved just before it appeared. The trip ahead was filled with boats of all sizes, including the military variety called warships.
Walt was having a good time sailing down by all the big Navy ships when he received an invitation by radio to choose a side and get there and signal his intentions by making a 90 degree turn to his chosen side. A warship had snuggled up behind him and was going to berth on Walt
s port side. Walt made the right decision to go to starboard. The escort security boats with the flashing lights kept between Walt and the ship until Walt was well past the ship's berth.
We spent three hours "parked" in front of bridges and locks on this trip. Here is a view of a parking lot as we waited for an opening. We were very lucky that this day was relatively calm and we could all keep our stations without a lot of trouble. Needless to say there were a few frazzled boaters out there after this experience. We had planned ahead and had reservations at Coinjock Marina for the evening. They kept calling us to be assured that we were still coming as they were turning boats away. As it was when we got there we both had to raft off other boats as there was no room on the wall for us to tie up. We were able to run an electric line to shore. We came to the marina after sunset, having pushed hard to do so after the delays of the day. Eagle's Wings appeared about twenty minutes behind us, coming in in the dark. They had to fit in between two other rafted boats with only about one and one half feet in the bow and in the stern from them.