After leaving Beaufort NC, we had a fairly long day, finally stopping at a free town dock in Belhaven, NC, at the foot of the Alligator River. We were tired that night and never left the dock. It was a nice, peaceful setting and we had cocktails on the dock overlooking the river, then dinner and cards on Blue Willow with Mark and Vicki Hill and their yellow lab, Daisy. The next morning we departed and traveled to the Alligator River Marina across Pimlico Sound, which got a bit bumpy as we neared the marina.
The next leg of the trip required the crossing of the Albamarle Sound, which opens to the Atlantic Ocean and is known for its rough conditions. Upon arriving the night before at the Alligator River Marina (a few miles from Columbia, NC), boats were arriving that had already tried to cross the Albamarle, only to find it to be a harrowing experience, thus turning back to join us at the marina to hunker down for the night. The forecast for the next day was horrible, so we decided to rent a car and visit the nearby Wright Brothers Museum in Kitty Hawk, on the outer banks of NC. We all enjoyed that very much as we saw the very site where the brothers accomplished their very first airborne flights. Replicas of the gliders and actual initial airplane were on display, along with much history on aviation in our country and throughout the world.
After two nights there, this morning we were anxious to leave and the weather forecast was better. In retrospect, we probably should not have traveled today. Crossing the Almamarle Sound was really, really bumpy, at times dealing with waves five or six feet in height. Things were rocking and rolling and falling throughout the boat. The only thing that made it doable was that we were taking the huge waves on our bow, as opposed to the beam (side) of the boat, but even then the waves were hitting our windshield and spacing over the top os the boat. Needless to say, we were happy to arrive in Elizabeth City NC., at a free town dock. Today was the first Saturday of the year when the town hosted a farmers market right off our dock, so we enjoyed some fresh vegetables to go with the crock pot rib dinner prepared by Vicki. We also met up with another looper couple from Holland, Mi aboard Loophole, Mary Ellen and Kurt ??? and they will likely travel with us tomorrow through the Dismal Swamp Canal on our way to Norfolk, Va.
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