Alligator River

We spent the day yesterday looking around Elizabeth City but it started pouring  buckets which put a bit of a damper on more exploring. In the evening a women came up and talked to us as she had heard us talk in one of the stores that we were from Nova Scotia and she was from Weymouth NS and living here now! We ran into a person at the dock that also has a Tartan 37 which Heather and I met last year when he was cruising Nova Scotia. In fact we met him in Baddeck and at the docks at our club – small world.

The forecast for today ended up being much better than forecast (or I accidentally looked at the 20 NM offshore report - DOH) so we were up early and were moving at 7:00 as you can see by the picture. What you can’t see are the other 5-6 boats that were following behind us!  Elizabeth City is home to the largest Coast Guard station which is responsible for doing rescues all the way up to Alaska if needed! Also on the station is a huge hanger for air blimps and we were treated to some tests they were doing this morning. The breeze came up and we were able to sail to the Alligator river bridge, which needs to be open for us to go through. There were four of us boats in a bit of a “formation” as we approached so they let us all through at the same time. Supposedly there are NO alligators here, but come on, it got it’s name from somewhere – think Iceland :) There are not a lot of good anchorages here but we are tucked behind a spit of land that should help for the forecast west winds.

After we got in we were invited to a boat called “High ZZ” for a drink, we had meet them a few days previously. Tomorrow we do another canal but with no locks.