May 21, Day 330 – Alligator River to Elizabeth City

We were up early this morning and underway by 7:45. Even so, of the 14+ boats that were at the marina, we were the next to last to leave. Today we crossed Albemarle Sound. It’s a stretch of 14 miles that can often be quite nasty. It is shallow plus any wind tends to funnel either up or down the long, straight sound. It can make for very choppy and confused seas. In addition, there are thousands and thousands of crab pots. This all makes for quite the interesting trip. Today, however, we only had to contend with the crab pots. There was not a breathe of air and the seas were flat as a pancake. While on the sound, there was not much to look at, as land was distant, but once in the Pasquotank River the landscape became more interesting. We even had visitors onboard during this part of the trip (see pictures below for explanation).

We arrived at Elizabeth City at 12:30. Elizabeth City is known as the Harbor of Hospitality. The city provides dockage free of charge for up to 48 hours. The whole idea of this hospitality started with a gentlemen named Fred Fearing. He started the group called the “Rose Buddies”. In the beginning they would clip a rose from the bushes at the wharf as a welcome gift for the lady on the boat. That progressed to include a wine and cheese party as well as providing advice on transiting the Dismal Swamp to the north or the Albermarle Sound to the south.

After getting settled in our slip we had a quick lunch and then went on a walk to explore the city. It’s a nice little town with several interesting shops. At 4:30 we joined everyone under the tent for the Rose Buddies wine and cheese social. It was very nice and the locals provided all kinds of information concerning the area. This town definitely has the right attitude when it comes to boaters. They provide free dockage and then reap the benefits of many people visiting and spending time (and money) in their city.

A little later in the evening we joined the gang on Karen Anne and Potest Fieri and walked to a local seafood place for dinner. After dinner, the walk back to the boat was very enjoyable. The weather right now is perfect – mid 70’s and a gentle breeze. We should sleep great tonight.

A shot of the sunrise this morning

... and another shot - very colorful sky

A shot of Monk's Vineyard at the dock

A shot of a couple of the thousands of crab pots along with the very flat seas

We passed by a blimp hanger - we found out that all blimps in the US are made here with the exception of the Goodyear Blimps.

... and a blimp

Oh look, we have company. That's the U.S. Coast Guard.

No, it's not as bad as it looks .... they aren't taking Gerry away. They just boarded us for a general inspection. Here in this picture I think they were actually talking about fishing lures.

After about a half hour on board going through everything like life vests, flares, fire extinguishers, the head, documentation, etc. they finally gave us an a-okay, we passed with "no findings" and off they went.

Approaching Elizabeth City. You can see that the seas are still very flat. The Coast Guard had mentioned that this was the first day in a month that there had been no wind. We picked a great day to cross the Sound.

Here's Karen Anne and Potest Fieri right after they docked. We were still waiting for Sam, the dockmaster to assign us our slip. The slips are different widths so they try to match you up with what fits you the best. The dockmaster is a volunteer that must be in his 80's. He's been doing this forever -- quite a character.

The momument explaining the "Rose Buddies"

The welcome sign

Even though it was still early in the afternoon, the docks were filling up fast. By nightfall they were all full, including the face docks.

During our walk, we walked by some "sitting ducks"

This is a shot of the Museum of Albemarle. It's a 55,000 sq. ft. facility with artifacts covering 400 years of the region's history.

At the wine and cheese social hosted by the "Rose Buddies"

This is David. He gave us great information on the area and was quite entertaining.