Alligatoar River-Pungo River Canal

We left Elizabeth City early Monday morning, and headed for the Albemarle Sound. Our early crossing gamble paid off, and we were able to beat the larger waves. Once across the sound, we entered the Alligator River.

We crossed under the Alligator River bridge. It's a swing bridge, that pivots at the center, as opposed to swinging open like a door. The bridge tender was very accommodating to us. We tried to catch up, and cross under, with a boat that was in front of us, but no luck. The tender wanted us to wait for three sailboats behind us to catch up, before opening the bridge again, but when he realized that it would mean us waiting over 30 minutes, he opened it for us anyway...we're definitely in the South...friendly.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, but COLD and very windy. Scott did manage a short sun nap up on the bow, though.

We anchored in the Alligator River for the night, surrounded by the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Where we were anchored, the trees were just dead poles mostly, killed by the mostly salty water; unusual looking. The winds picked up over night. Two sailboats, who anchored nearby, didn't choose the right location for the winds, and took such a beating that they moved to re-anchor.

On Tuesday, we planned to travel as far as Dowry Creek, located near Belhaven, NC, via the Alligaor River-Pungo River Canal. No locks on this canal, and much deeper water. A large sport fishing boat, throwing out a HUGE, scary wake, came up behind us. Luckily, he slowed down to pass us, or everything onboard would've gone flying around. We're starting to see more and more power boats, now that we're out of the Dismal Swamp. It's the less popular route, but we're SO glad we took it.

With the forecast calling for heavy winds, and much colder than normal temps, we decided to hole up at Dowry Creek Marina instead of anchoring. For 58.00 per night, we can run all the electric and heat we want, and not use extra fuel running our generator, or put wear on it. Scott has it tropical hot in the boat now..Zuzu is loving it! We decided to stay here until Thursday am, when we head to Oriental, NC, staying on schedule.

Dowry Creek Marina is just off of the Pungo River, near Belhaven, NC. It's a small, mom and pop marina. They are very accommodating and the property is really pretty and well kept. There's a really nice boaters lounge near the pool, too. Many marinas have a boaters lounge. Somewhere you can go to watch tv, get online, etc. There are usually book, magazine swaps, and you can usually borrow movies, too. The one at Dowry Creek also has a full kitchen for boaters to use. Good if several boats are traveling together, and may wan to have dinner together, or a party. I can see that in the warmer months, when the pool is open and going, that this is a popular place.

Here are some pictures of the trip from Elizabeth City through the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal.