Great Bridge to Coinjock

Wednesday, November, 25, 2020. Today we had to pass one of the significant hurdles for our trip south, the Pungo Ferry Bridge.  Water level varies by wind direction and not by a regular tide.

Here is our berth at Atlantic Yacht Basin before we left about 7:30 am.

It was so calm, I pulled away from the dock while Diane slept in.  There were some beautiful stretches of the ICW on this part of the trip.

Our first 65' bridge is visible as we get underway on the ICW.

This one should not be a problem, but it sure looks close.

The Centerville Turnpike swing bridge had been damaged by a barge a few weeks prior to our trip and was permanently open for a while.  That would have been our only bridge opening for the day.

By 10:15, we were approaching the Pungo Ferry Bridge.  The North Landing River tide station which is relatively nearby showed 0.31' (https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=akq&gage=nlrv2).  I had notes from reading other blogs that said "A level reading near zero and we saw 65+ feet under the bridge.  When it showed 2.75 on the river gauge, we saw 64 feet of clearance."  So, I figured we should be able to fit under the bridge.  As we approached the bridge, we could not find any boards to let us know what the height of the bridge was over water and continued through slowly.  Our VHF antennae contacted the bridge supports -- not a something we like, but we realize that something we have to live with on the ICW with Owl Moon.  Coming out the other side, we see boards to the left and right, visible only to northbound boats!

East side board (interpolation says 65')

West side board (65'?)

I think it was a bridge height of 65' because we usually make contact with our VHF antenna on 65' bridges.

The rest of the day was uneventful.  We arrived at Coinjock marina at 1:15 pm.