Alligator River and Albermarle Sound

Alligator River and Albermarle Sound   …   Saturday 22 June 2013

We were up and away from our anchorage off Deep Point at the south end of the Alligator River by 6.15am. Last night there ended up being about 5 boats in this anchorage and we were the second to last to leave! We motor-sailed 20 miles up the river, doing our best to outrun the storms that seemed to be chasing us. The river is maybe a mile wide in parts but the channel is only a few hundred feet wide. We rolled up the genoa, passed by the Alligator River swing bridge and then carefully navigated the shallow S-bend channel that leads out into Albermarle Sound, briefly seeing depths of less than 8 feet - a bit spooky. After this it was up with all the sails and we had an excellent 12 mile sail across Albermarle sound, before once again dropping the sails and motoring a further 15 miles onwards up the North River to the Coinjock Marina. Here we tied up to the long end dock and filled up with diesel and water, pumped out and dumped our trash. During the day we had played cat and mouse with a boat called "Maggie", but it wasn't until they too pulled into the Coinjock Marina and tied up next to us that we got to actually meet and talk to Gail and John. Afetr we had all completed our housekeeping jobs and taken showers we met up for a drink on board our boat and exchanged stories. John and Gail had lived aboard their boat for 10 years, including five years in the Caribean, before returning to land life in Illinois four years ago to look after ailing parents. Now they are back spending a summer on board traveling up from North Carolina to an as yet undecided location in New England. After drinks, Gloria and I enjoyed a good dinner at the marina restaurant and plan to get up early tomorrow to finish the final 50 miles of the ICW up to Norfolk.

Mike

36 20.88 N, 75 56.963 W

Power sailing up the Alligator river ahead of storms

"Maggie" in the Alligator River

Someone screwed up (perhaps a barge)- a channel marker knocked down in the Alligator River

Storm clouds over the North River

Today we had some new travelers - a bunch of colorful dragonflies - I took the photos over a about a 30 minute period whilst Gloria navigated the North River

Dragonfly resting on the hatch cover