We left in the dark to get through the liftbridge at 6:30 (on demand) before they
went to restricted openings at 7:00. It was a beautiful sunrise ( "red in the morning,
sailors take warning") and it was cloudy and threatening for the first two hours as
we headed out into Albemarle Sound, which has a bad reputation. Then the weather
improved and we had a great sail for two hours as we crossed the sound. We pulled
into Alligator Creek Marina at noon and were the only boat there until later in the
afternoon when two other boats arrived, one we knew and another from Cleveland
that we got to know as they joined us on our boat for happy hour. This marina is
behind a gas station/restaurant/store, which is an interesting combination that works.
By the way, they do have alligators now way up here in North Carolina, even in slightly
brackish water.
The locals have an accent that can make it hard to understand them especially on the
marine radio.
34 miles
Friday, Oct. 19
We left early and into a heavy fog on the Alligator River. Thankfully we have radar
onboard and could safely continue and traffic was very light. When we got into the
Pungo Canal we had a couple hours of rain but we stayed dry in the cockpit. Along the
southwest end of the canal we saw a dozen eagles, some catching fish in front of us.
Belhaven Marina was full so we stayed at the community dock which worked out
well for us since it was free, no electric or water. The dock itself was very nice with
an adjoining deck with picnic tables. It was right next door to Belhaven Marina so we
went over and joined four other boats/couples for happy hour. It's been great to get to
know some of these people as we keep connecting with them.
The town of Belhaven is obviously struggling, with many closed storefronts and
businesses. We did our best to help the bakery in town, visiting them for donuts in
the morning before we took off.
53 miles
Saturday, Oct. 20
We were the first to leave in the morning and were followed by quite a few other
sailboats as we headed down the River. The breeze was good and from a favorable
direction so we all enjoyed a great sail for a while until we had to turn up the Neuse
River. It was a beautiful day and lots of sailboats were out enjoying a sunny fall day
out sailing on the wide river here which seems more like a bay than a river.
Oriental, NC is known as the sailing capitol of the state and rightfully so. There are
loads of boats, many marinas, lots of big shrimp boats, and a community that is
oriented around boating. The people are friendly and helpful and this is the first
marina where they refueled our boat in its slip.
There is a chandlery next door where we were able to buy a needed part for our grill
we had not been able to find anywhere else and they loaned us some bikes to use for
our trip to the grocery store a mile away. There is a fresh fish market across the street
that had great scallops we grilled for dinner, crab meat Carol used to make yummy
crabcakes and super shrimp we will enjoy soon. We spent Sunday here too.
48 miles
fish market in Oriental
Nice pictures. Great addition to the postings.
ReplyDeleteWendell