Dismal Swamp, NC - 7/30/11

Our day started with all six of us enjoying breakfast on the sundeck of Quest.

Huen even gave Doc his breakfast as well.

It was just a very short run from Pelican marina around the corner past Elizabeth City to the first bridge that had to be opened for us.

Pasquatank River is still wide like the Ohio river at this point as it is still a few miles before we enter the swamp.

The water is very tannic caused by the cypress, juniper and gum trees that are on shore.

As we travel further toward the swamp the water becomes much more narrower and full of duck weed.

The actual canal was hand dug in the 1700's by slave labor and is very straight.

Ricki and Cricket played with the crab. Ricki has hand fed this critter so long that it has lost its fear of humans.

After about 25 miles we came to the first of 2 locks on the swamp, South Mills.

We were followed into the lock by this sailboat with Jack and Carolyn who have been on the boat for 13 months having traveled across the Atlantic and thru the Carribean Islands. The boat was built by Jack's boat building operation and is about 22 x 8. Can't imagine what kind of guts that would take.

This was the first time Cricket has ever gone through a lock.

The water entered the lock under the up river gates and raised us about 8 feet total. The swamp is only about 6 feet deep and due to all the trees along the edges that have fallen into it, we did bump a few times. The trick was to keep a respectable distance from the boat in front of yours because they could kick up dead heads on the bottom for you to hit.

Since the locks only open a couple times a day to save water, we opted not to take the early opening and locked thru at 3 p.m. which landed us at the free dock about 4:30 p.m. at the NC Visitor Center which is actually along route 17.

We invited our sail boat friends to a dinner cookout and enjoyed their travel tales.

Tomorrow we will move on to Norfolk and Waterside Marina where we might stay for a week. This will give us the opportunity to show our guests the Outer Banks.

Elizabeth City, NC - 7/29/11

Moor $tuff & Quest pulled out of Alligator River Marina at 7:40 for the 37 mile trip to Elizabeth City.

Another nice marina and since we are the end of the northern migration, not crowded at all and the folks are glad to see boaters.

A short run up the Alligator River before entering Albermarle Sound.

The Sound has a nasty reputation for boaters. It is 12 to 16 feet deep so if you have a West wind going north, the beam seas really rock the boat. That is what we experienced ... probably one of the roughest ride we have had to date. The waves were at least 3 foot and Moor $tuff who was following us are convinced they saw our bottom a couple times. It was the longest 20 miles we have traveled with stuff flying around in the cabin.

We entered the Pasquotank River and it got much better. We started seeing this interesting building many miles away. I think it is where they build blimps.

We got to Pelican Marina about noon and settled in. Our boating friends Huen and Cricket are due to show up later this afternoon and will stay with us a few days. We have sure missed them traveling with us.

Dinner was at the marina restaurant. Unfortunately we took this picture immediately after leaving the restaurant and didn't realize the lens had fogged over.

Tomorrow we all head for the Dismal Swamp and may not have a wireless connection until we get to Norfolk on Sunday.

Pelican marina is: N 36 18.001 W 76 12.706

Columbia, NC - 7/28/11

When we left Belhaven this morning we still had a few miles of the Neuse River to cover.

Then we entered the Pungo Canal which was 20 miles long and virtually straight. Thank goodness for auto pilot.

The edges of the canal was loaded with cypress stumps so you had to stay in the middle. The book said it was approx 90 feet wide but we only had half that to navigate.

We entered the Alligator River which is BIG and WIDE. Another 20 miles on this monster but

we had a good ride thanks to nice weather. We arrived at Alligator River Marina shortly afternoon which gave us time to clean and wash the boat. Tomorrow we tackle the Albermarle Sound which does not have a good reputation for being kind to boaters.

The connection here is terrible and it took over 20 minutes to load these pictures. Hopefully things will be better when we get to Elizabeth City tomorrow.

Belhaven, NC - 7/27/11

We pulled out of Whittaker Creek Marina at 7 a.m. for Dowry Creek Marina in Bellhaven.

We had several large bodies of water to cross on our way. The Nuese River can get pretty snotty but today it was calm.

The water for the whole day was tea colored and is leaving a mustache on the boat.

We pulled into the marina at 12:40 having traveled 52 miles. This is definitely one of the nicest marinas we have been in so far. Mary, the owner, had a cocktail party at 5:30 for all the boaters in the marina in the boaters lounge behind the pool.

Take a good look at her bottle tree. Unique!

We spent several hours in the pool cooling off. The down side was yours truly finding a yellow jacket nest under our umbrella and getting several stings before escaping.

Our Internet connection was not good here so this is being sent on 7/28 after we got to Alligator River marina.

Location at Bellhaven was: N35 31.965 W76 32.132

Oriental, NC - 7/26/11

We signed up for the courtesy van this morning from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. with plans of going to breakfast before hitting the grocery store. The four of us returned to the Village Restaurant and had another very good reasonable breakfast.

Our GPS indicated a Super Walmart was 21 miles away at Morehead City, so off we went. After about 6 or 8 miles we rounded a turn to find us face to face with this ferry. Since it was now after 11 a.m. we were reluctant to risk the time required to cross this 3 to 5 mile river, shop and then cross back not knowing the ferry schedule.

So we just went to a small IGA in town that had almost everything we needed anyway.

For dinner Skip & I handled the grilling chores for a nice meal on the boat. Tomorrow we plan to leave early for Belhaven about 15 miles east on the wide Neuse River then another 30 miles mostly in a much smaller canal.

Oriental, NC - 7/24/11

Weather and wind kept us in the marina today. Still have strong winds predicted for tomorrow as well so it looks like Wednesday will see us leaving here. The marina is very nice and pretty cheap at $1 per foot and the courtesy van is also one of the best we have seen so far. The pool beside the marina office is a favorite spot for Ricki.

The marina is only a couple years old and they sell the slips in addition to renting them. One for our 40 foot boat is $100,000.

Skip & I took off this morning and found a canvas repair shop to fix my bimini and then had the job of putting it back on. The ladies left when we got back for the laundromat then we all went to dinner at a local diner that had the best pies in the world. We are going back there in the morning for breakfast then to the grocery store to stock up again.

Oriental, NC - 7/24/11

When we came into Beaufort Town Docks it was practically full but when we were leaving this morning at 9 a.m. it was nearly empty. Apparently most folks are up and out before us.

The current was again pretty stiff but neither of us had any trouble getting out.

As we rounded the corner from the harbor and headed for Adams Creek we passed this old fort that we were told on the tour, has been purchased by the Methodist and used as a retreat now.

A little way up the creek which is a very narrow channel, we saw this 70 footer hard aground and being pulled off by BoatUS. A little while later as we were exiting the creek into the Neuse River he passed us and was gone.

This is Adams Creek which looks wide but has very narrow channels in spots.

We traveled only 5 miles on the river but it was very wide and the last couple miles was very rough with a SW wind gusting to 27 mph. We landed at Whittaker Point Marina at 12:30 and after the normal chores and lunch, Ricki & I hit the pool until late afternoon. Tomorrow I will contact a canvas shop to get some stitching on our bimini repaired. Apparently some of the winds we have experienced lately has caused a couple places to fail so we will be spending at least 2 nights here. The marina is only a couple years old and the facilities are very nice. We will get pictures tomorrow.

Our position tonight is N35 01.774 W76 40.871

Beaufort, NC - 7/23/11

As we left Morehead City for Beaufort just a mile away, we passed this dredging operation at the mouth of the creek.

Our slip assignment was a port turn between these two big boys and against the bulkhead, stern in to port slip which was challenging due to strong current and gusty winds but we made it look easy with an audience watching on the boardwalk.

First order of business after showers and cool down was a shopping trip to the stores directly across the street from the marina.

The main street had several restaurants and we decided to stop and have an appetizer until dinner.

Our traveling friends, Barb & Skip (left to right).

The admiral of our ship and her captain.

A visit to the Maritime Museum was very interesting. This building on the waterfront across from the museum is a boat building operation part of the museum and still in business.

The museum had many displays regarding the evolution of boat building.

It also included displays of old outboards,

This area up though the Outer Banks is a ship graveyard and this is one of the vehicles they have used to located them.

There was a major display area regarding Blackbeard the pirate and his ship the Queen Ann's Revenge. This is a model of that boat.

We try to take historic tours of these southern towns and this was no exception.

Beaufort has many homes dating back into the 1700's & 1800's.

We met a couple from Arkansas that are on a large catamaran, Mike & Nancy, on the tour and joined them along with Skip and Barb for dinner at the Dock Restaurant. A very enjoyable evening that ended with a tour of their sail boat. Do to the size of their mast (nearly 65 feet) they are sailing outside the AICW and headed for Cape Cod.

Tomorrow we plan to head on to Oriental which will be across the Neuse River.

Our location tonight is:

N34 42.949 W76 39.863