Weather forecasts had all the captains questioning which days were looking best for crossing the Albemarle Sound. No really good weather window developing until next week so most everyone decided an early departure today made the most sense. The parade started at 6AM with a promising sunrise and even we were off the docks by 6:45 hoping to get some hours in before the winds kicked up to the 15-20 knots as forecast.
Such a promising start to the day
Up the final stretch of the Alligator River seemed promising as the SW swells hitting the port rear quarter wasn't impacting us too badly. As we punched along at our steady 7 knots we could see boats continue to disappear ahead of us as they gave the throttle some extra juice. Conditions deteriorated as we got into the more open sound with bigger more confused waves and higher sustained winds. But there was no turning back as a rain squall had developed behind us. We rolled and bounced and took one good wave that spayed water on the foredeck. A check below confirmed a few things were getting tossed about but no damage to report. We've endured worse conditions but this was still no joy ride.
Martha did most of the driving as those conditions will make her nauseous if she isn't focused. So between maintaining her headings, looking out for waves and skirting around crabpots she had her hands full. By 9:30 we were rounding our way off the sound and up the Pasquotank River and she was more than ready to hand over the controls. This area is more protected from the SW winds so things finally settled back down for the final leg into Elizabeth City. Docked by 11AM at the towns free dock. What a morning!!
Downtown Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City is known as the Harbor of Hospitality for it's "Rose Buddies". Back in 1983 two local gentlemen stopped at the newly completed town dock to welcome visiting boaters. One of them cut roses from his garden and presented them to each "First Mate", A tradition was started that they continue to this day. Both men have passed away but their heirs and other community members keep the tradition alive using several rose bushes that were transplanted from the original garden to the dock area. Martha received her rose from "a 5th generation rose giver".
We got together with the crews from 3 other looper boats at the local brew pub - Ghost Harbor Brewery. It was a fun afternoon for introductions, tall tales of the crossings, and a flight of their stouts and porters to sample.
We'll spend another day or two here before heading up the dismal swamp. We're a few days ahead of schedule and free dock is always worth taking advantage of when available. There's a few good restaurants here we need to check out that weren't open on Sunday.
Journey on 4-28-2019
Loving the posts! Miss you guys!
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