This morning we were up at 6am and Bob started the generator
right away for heat, then went back to bed for 10 minutes. We were still off by 6:30 but as we neared
the Alligator River / Pongo River Canal entrance there were four boats ahead of
us. They had anchored closer in and
probably all up at 6am like us. The
canal (maybe 200ft wide) is at least twice as wide as the Dismal Swamp with
stumps extending about 20 feet from either side still leaving at least 100 feet
of width for maneuvering.
For the whole
15 miles we only saw 2 pieces of floating wood and one significant submerged
log which was poised for hull impaling.
The vines, pines and cedars, both dead and alive, made a nice backdrop
to the water view and the light mist on the east side gave a ghost-like
impression. Grasses and low brush filled
the west bank while most of the east bank was a vertical mud edge about three
feet high.
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| Fir$t of Many |
In the last five miles
private property dotted the bank on the west side, some for sale, some
downtrodden, and a few very nice looking.
Water access ranged from nothing or ladders to nice large docks and/or
long bulkheads to half rotten ones. Many
of the houses were at least 300 feet from the canal edge and built on stilts
that looked to be about 10 feet high. Two 60 foot plus vertical height bridges crossed the canal. About 2.5 miles above Wilkerson Bridge the
east bank opened into a wide treeless expanse and we saw our first house on
that side.
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| Any Takers? |
Meanwhile Sprint coverage
started and we began trying to find a rental car. There were only two rental agencies within 30
miles of the nearest town of Bellhaven.
The Hertz number was continually busy and the Enterprise folks were sold
out. The idea was to leave K2F there and rent a car for a quick trip ti South Carolina. We were going to try to visit Peggy's sister for thanksgiving. We hadn’t figured out how to go 30
miles on roads to the town of Washington to get to the rental agencies anyway
so, onto Plan B: We plugged on another 3 hours, anchoring in Gale Creek East, ICW 160, at
2:30pm.
Again, we couldn’t go further as
the next place to stop was Oriental at 20 miles over more open water, and putting us there after sunset. We are getting lazy hanging out in canals! We know we are south as when we were cleaning
the deck after anchoring a local in camouflage with his son and dog in a john
boat motored by and asked if we needed anything. Then he offered that if we needed anything
while we were here that we could go to any of the houses in the area. Sorry Yankees, but no one in New England
would do that! In the south, one of the nicest things you can say to a man is to compliment his dog. I told him what a good looking dog he had, and you could just see him swell up with pride. The man, not the dog.
Another first for us:
We were puttering along this afternoon at 1:30 just having entered Goose
Creek when a Coast Guard boat came alongside.
We were boarded! They did a
general safety inspection and we got off with flying colors except that they
recommended that we dismantle the overboard discharge for the head in the event
that we were ever boarded by the EPA folks.
Bob took care of that this evening. Thank you US Power Squadron for giving out the correct information.
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