We
departed this morning with two potential destinations in mind – either the
Alligator River Marina or the Manteo Waterfront Marina. Our final destination will depend on the
weather. There are thunderstorms
predicted for later today and we will check the weather before we make a final
decision on our destination. If weather
conditions are good, we will go all the way to Manteo otherwise we’ll stop at
the Alligator River Marina.
The
day starts off beautifully – it is a bit hot and humid, but almost no wind. We have a short stretch along the Pungo River
and then we get into the Alligator River – Pungo River Canal. The canal is over 20 miles long and quite
straight and narrow. We have heard from
many people that this is an extremely boring part of the trip, but as you can
see by the pictures, the wildlife kept us entertained.
We
leave the canal and enter the Alligator River – it is so calm the river looks
like glass. As we travel along the
Alligator, we check the current weather report and based on the conditions we
are seeing (the VERY calm water and light winds) and the up-to-date weather, we
decide to continue all the way to Manteo.
We travel at our “fast speed” (just under 20 mph) for a bit at the end
of the Alligator River so that we can catch up with some other boats and make
the opening of the swing bridge over the river.
We
then enter Albemarle Sound. Albemarle
Sound has a very bad reputation – even relatively small amounts of wind can
build big waves because of the size of the sound and its shallowness. Although it is not glass like the Alligator,
it is still amazingly calm. The only
problem is the crab pots – they are the worst we have seen – they are everywhere
– it takes concentration and good steering to keep Boreas out of trouble. Other
than the crab pots, the trip through Albemarle Sound is uneventful and we are
tied up at the Manteo Waterfront Marina by 3:00pm, just in time for the
thunderstorms to blow through.
Miles: 65.6 Bridges: 3 Locks: 0
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| the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal |
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along the Alligator Pungo Canal - a doe with her fawn (look closely, the
fawn is in front of and inside the doe) |
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| another picture of the doe with her fawn |
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| a bit further along the canal another deer walking in the water |
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| a bald eagle along the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal |
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| along the edges of the canal were lots of old tree stumps |
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Mary Frances IV passes us on the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal (and
they prove that a Sea Ray can indeed do a soft/slow pass) |
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| the glassy Alligator River |
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| another picture of the Alligator River |
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| the Albemarle Sound - not glass, but VERY calm |
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| they are hard to see, but each of these pink arrows points at a crab pot float |
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