Day 2-150 northward 37.5 miles to Elizabeth City, NC

We departed the Alligator River at 8:05 am and arrived in Elizabeth City about 4.5 hours later. We did the whole trip at normal cruising speed of 8 mph in light winds and mostly sunny skies. After a few miles we exited the Alligator River and started across the Albermarle River, which is about 16 miles wide at this point. As we approached the north side, the Intra Coastal Waterway splits into two different routes. The newer eastern route is now the main waterway with a maintained depth of 12 feet. We have chosen the historic, western route through the Great Dismal Swamp, and we will begin a two day trip through the Great Dismal Swamp tomorrow. When you reach the north side of Albermarle Sound, the Intra Coastal goes north up the Pasquotank River about 15 miles to Elizabeth City where we will begin our trip through the Great Dismal Swamp tomorrow.

As you approach Elizabeth City, you pass the largest U.S. Coast Guard airbase in the U.S.  The base is large and is also home to 5 different Coast Guard National Commands.

Just after passing the airbase we went by a blimp and a large, World War II blimp hangar. Elizabeth City was the second largest base for blimps in the U.S. during WW II (second to Lyndhurst, NJ). The blimps patrolled off the Cape Hatteras area to protect shipping from U-boats. Now, most of the blimps manufactured in the U.S. are made here.

During the first half of the trip up the Pasquotank River, we passed through the most dense field of crab traps that we had ever seen. They seemed to be in closely space rows in both the N-S and E-W directions. Fortunately, with the light winds it was generally very easy to see the floating buoys, but they mad it more interesting by having some rows of black and dark blue buoys... Most of the time you were within 100 or so feet of 3 to 5 buoys. In the picture you can see how well the white buoys show up, and for comparison you can see 2 black buoys in the left foreground.

When we reached the Pelican Marina, we back into a slip with a finger (short) pier on the starboard side only. That was relatively easy with the light wind and no current, but then things started to go bad. We had two lines tied to the finger pier, but I needed to move the bow over to port (left) so that the Admiral could grab a bow line from a piling. I started to turn the boat, and then we stopped (?).  It seems (but I am not 100% positive) that the dockhand had untied the boat so that we could turn... One of the lines had fallen into the water and was tightly wrapped around the starboard propeller shaft... Okay John, just relax. After we finished tying up again, I went below to see if I could unwind the line by turning the propeller shaft at the transmission. I used a 30 inch long pipe wrench for the first full turn and then was able to switch to a rubber strap wrench for the next couple of turns. Finally I was able to turn it by hand. After a total of 6 or seven revolutions I heard a loud tapping noise on the hull. That was the Admiral signaling that the line was free! Lucky Us...

After a wonderful salad with roasted chicken on top, the Admiral took one of the electric scooters on a 1.5 mile trip to the Post Office.

We had asked our mail service to forward it here c/o General Delivery, and it was there when she arrived. This photo is of the downtown waterfront taken as we approached the marina.

The next picture is of the Pelican Marina also taken during our approach to the marina.

The marina has some interesting boats in it, including this small tug that looks very much like its real counterparts.





Well, it is late, and we have to get up at 6:00 am for an early start tomorrow. We have a bridge right next to the marina that is being replaced, and during the construction, it has very limited openings during the morning and evening rush hours. Then we have to go about 22 miles to a lock that only opens 4 times a day. Plus, the entire trip is in a no wake zone, which means that we will only be going about 5 mph...

Well, I will close with a view of tonight's sunset over downtown that was taken from the fore deck of Lucky Us.