I arrived here Wednesday afternoon at about 1800. Joe and Deb followed just after sunset. It was a difficult beat into the wind all day that required one tack back east and then north again as the "east" winds that were forecasted never happened and we fought NE 15 - 20 kts winds all day. C-Note had a few problems along the way such as the dinghy coming loose in the davits and had to heave-to several times to deal. It took us 11 hours to travel 38 miles, and we were all tired at the end of the day. As reported by Tow Boat US, the channel down the east side of Roanoke Island had plenty of water but is very narrow near the bridge. Actually, I was talking to C-Note just after I passed under the bridge and wasn't paying close enough attention and ran aground - pretty hard too, but was moving fast enough and just on the edge of the channel and basically skipped off the mud and right back into the channel. C-Note and I were talking afterwards about how I had freaked when doing that at the Carolina Inlet just after I had met them about 1 1/2 years ago. Now, it is just another event in the day of the life of a cruiser and not necessarily even a big deal.

Roanoke Island turned out to be a fabulous place to stop over for a couple of nights. The folks at Manteo Waterfront Marina were very hospitable and allowed us to stay for the first two nights free on the bulkhead since the winds were blowing hard and essentially had us pinned to the pier. Roanoke is a tourist destination, so things like dining aren't cheap, and we did not do a lot of that. But it is rich in history and happens to be the place of the first colony established by the English in the late 1500's. The colony actually soon disappeared without a trace and was never heard from again, and this is the place known as the "Lost Colony".

Most cruisers do not travel this route, primarily I think because there is not much written about it and weather can be an issue on the large open sounds. The upside if you hit it right is you get to sail the entire distance from the Neuse River up through the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds instead of motoring through the ICW. It takes three days to go either route, so my money is on the way. I am hoping to hit this again on the return trip south in the fall.

We did a lot of site seeing at places like the Cape Hatteras light house and the Wright Brothers National Memorial - both very impressive and I recommend seeing them if you haven't. We also saw some people sail boarding and kite surfing. Strong winds and smooth water on the lee of the barrier islands seem to make conditions pretty ideal. I attached a picture for Mark Mc., who has been here to do this stuff.