Saturday, November 21, 2009 Elizabeth City to the Alligator River, NC

From: Elizabeth City NC (N36*17.924, W76*13.095)
To: Deep Point, Alligator River, NC (N35*40.460, W76*03.400)
Miles traveled: 48.7nm (140.0)

I’d have liked to stayed another day or so to explore Elizabeth City but if we do, then we’ll probably be here for a few more days since there’s weather moving in. Theoretically you’re only supposed to stay on the free dock for 48 hours and since it’s calling for high wind and rain on Sunday or Monday, then we both thought it prudent to head out. Jade East and Hampshire Rose said they were heading out at 7 this morning but at quarter of the hour I noticed they were gone. We pulled out around 8am under partly cloudy skies and cold air with patches of fog breaking up. We passed by the blimp hanger (where they make blimps) and it’s amazing to think how big that hanger when compared to a house. Imagine living near a blimp factory… I’ll leave the jokes to the imagination along with all the hot gas.

We hooked up the auto helm and Otto seems to be doing okay. We left him on for a while testing him out. As we approached the Alligator River Bridge we met up with an Island Packet (Oceanis) and a tall ship (Fritha). The tall ship Fritha was a beauty! I recognized the bridge tenders voice from last year when we were stuck here during the gale. He’s a very friendly sort and something about him was reassuring even though I knew he couldn’t open the bridge for anyone. The guy has got patience…

Around 2:30pm we pulled around to Deep Point, where we were going to anchor for the night in 7-9 feet of water.  I noticed that there were two boats already anchored there. It was Hampshire Rose and Jade East! That caught me by surprise because for some strange reason I thought they were pushing on for Belhaven. It was nice to see them again. 4-5 boats could fit in this anchorage easily. Rob from Jade East dinghied by to say high with Tiva – he’s looking for a landing to take her ashore but I don’t think there’s much here. He told us they’d be heading out in the morning at 6:30 for Belhaven and they’d be on the radio in the morning if we wanted to head out with them. I said okay and then went below to see about making dinner. Sausage and egg noodles were on my menu only I couldn’t find my egg noodles anywhere… Quick change in menu – mac & cheese and sausage for dinner tonight.