The Great Dismal Swamp's southern end is in North Carolina but you know you're getting there long before that because the land gets flatter and lower and the drawls get broader. North Carolina is populated with some of the most hospitable people I've ever met, they always have time to talk and never fail to lend a helping hand to a stranger passing through.

From the southern end of the canal you enter the Pasquotank River which at this point flows wide and deep and we began what seemed like an amusement park ride as we rode a fast flowing flood tide around numerous hair-pin turns in the river at nearly 7.5 knots. Derek was in heaven steering our way around numerous dead-heads and shallow shoals at what seemed breakneck speeds. We continued on for over 14 miles under we reached just above the Elizabeth City bridge. A group of boats rushed to get to the bridge for its 4:30 opening but we missed it by just a minute and the bridge tender wouldn't open because of rush-hour traffic. So we decided to backtrack about a quarter mile and throw an anchor for the night. We spent a windy night at anchor but had a lovely stay nonetheless.

The next morning we decided to leave the anchorage and head for Abermarle Sound but as we came under the bridge the bridge-master asked where we were going and so we told him and he advised us against crossing in such conditions. Abermarle Sound is a 15 mi piece of water that is directly open to the ocean, is very shallow and can become fiercely rough. With that local knowledge, we sought out a place on the Elizabeth City Docks to await better weather.

Ellizabeth City is known as the harbour of hospitality and provides free docks for visitors boaters for up to 2 days, has free wifi (which wasn't working when we were there) and has a daily wine and cheese party for the boaters complete with roses for the ladies. So staying there wasn't going to be a hardship. The bridge-master, from his perch high above, made sure we found a place on the wall and we settled in for the day. Elizabeth City is actually a rather small town but is the county seat and has two small universities within its bounders. Like many small US town it has undergone some hard economic times but that doesn't dampen their welcome for visitors. We walked around town, had lunch, looked in some of the stores and rather quickly running out of things to amuse us we returned to the boat for the rest of the afternoon. A rather eclectic group of sailors was gathering because of the weather which didn't look like it would turn favourable for a couple of more days. As it turned out, we ended up having to stay in Elizabeth City for 3 days waiting for a reasonable weather window to cross the Sound and get to the Alligator River. We managed to occupy our time making new friends in the cruising community and getting a lot of helpful advice from some more seasoned sailors.

On the Friday, we decided that the weather was good enough to try the crossing and we left with a group of other boats that thought the same. We motored down the rest of the Pasquotank River for about 12 miles in winds the were blowing 20 knots and gusting to 25 and entered Abermarle Sound which was rolly with short sharp waves and it was like trying to constantly steer the boat through breakers. But it was, for the most part, uncomfortable but not unsafe.

We persevered for the 15 mile crossing and followed the dog-leg channel into the Alligator River. Unfortunately one of the boats nearby ran aground on the Alligator shoal and while trying to get off managed to blow the transmission and eventually they were towed into the marina after awaiting help for several hours. We continued on into the Alligator River and decided to stop, rest and fuel up at the Alligator River Marina just before the Alligator swing bridge. We spent the night at "Ms Wanda's" who owns an interesting marina/gas station/restaurant on the side of the highway at the Alligator River bridge 13 miles to the nearest civilization. She is a good old American entrepreneur in the best sense.

The next morning we were back on the road (err...water) and asked for the bridge to open at 8am. We mozzied on down the river (see the drawl's catching) for about 8 miles until it joined up with the Alligator Pungo canal which after about 20 miles dumped us into the Pungo River.

We followed the Pungo River for another 10 miles to the town of Belhaven. Belhaven is another small coastal town that is looking rather ragged around the ears and we stopped at the River Forest Marina because of its easy proximity to the entrance in this rather shallow harbour. The docks were badly in need of repair and the marina, which also ran a bed and breakfast in an old country mansion, felt like to was staffed by the Munster family - rather a dark, sinister and creepy feel to it. But, when you travel on a sailboat, you take your home with you and all we really wanted was a place to tie up in the high winds that were blowing. We rested comfortably overnight and decided to leave Munsterville for better places in the morning. But, the place wasn't done with us yet.

As we left the dock in the morning the high winds forced me to try to make a spin turn in the very small basin and there were pilons marking the end of the navigable water in front of the break wall. As I was completing the turn and heading out the channel we promptly ran aground over 10 ft away from the pilons almost right in the middle of the basin. We tried to power off the mud but no luck. Lurch (aka. Mike the dock hand) said he'd call the tow boat to help us off. In ten minutes, the tow boat powers around the break wall with none other that Lurch aboard it (you had to wonder if they were working together to make more business). Within 10 minutes the tow boat had us floating and off we went with no harm done except to the captain's dignity.

We continued on down the wide Pongo River in diminishing winds of 10-15 knots with 1-2 foot waves into Pamlico Sound, Goose Creek and the Goose Creek Canal which took us to the Neuse River that provided us a wide and open run into Oriental, NC. Along the way we began seeing more working shrimp boats with their wide arms handling long drag nets and so we gave them all a wide berth. Oriental has a large commercial shrimp fleet and although there is a lot of commercial activity in Oriental it was a very pleasant harbour for pleasure craft as well. Higher winds were forecast for over night and the tiny anchorage at Oriental was jammed by the time we got there so we decided to take a slip at Oriental Marina. We arrived at low tide and ended up going aground (yes, twice in one day) 15 feet from the dock but the dock master said it was just muck so we powered our way in and tied up. Apparently it was a low-low tide coupled with a strong southerly wind which blows the water out of the basin and sure enough, as the dock master said, a couple of hours later we were happily afloat and remained so for the rest of our stay.

Oriental is a small working nautical town that has quite successfully adapted to include tourism into its economy. However, like many small tourist towns, many of the attractions were closing for the season when we were there. Still it's a lively and interesting little town that has a serious addiction to sailing and those are the kind of people that I like.

The next morning we pushed off in winds blowing 20-25 knots and a heavy 3-5 ft. chop which made for a uncomfortable passage across the Neuse River. Luckily its was only about 3 miles across the river to the entrance to Adams Creek where we were protected from the wind and waves. Adams Creek winds through the countryside until it joins Adams Canal which then joins into Core Creek and finally, the Beaufort Inlet. Several of the channels into Beaufort have been closed recently due to silting and so we took the main ICW channel around Radio Island and found a slip at the Town Docks so we would have easy access to see this sailing Mecca. Beaufort is a pretty town heavily into tourism and sailing events and it seems the entire economy of the town is solely based upon catering to sailors and other travellers. The town docks were outstanding and the staff couldn't do enough for us. But believe me, as is so often the case in tourist areas, not inexpensive. But the sun came out and it actually started to warm up a little so we enjoyed a rather quite afternoon enjoying our free beer provided by the marina and catching up on a couple of boat chores and then we had a fabulous dinner at Caswells on the boardwalk just down from the marina.


It was starting to feel like cruising again instead of a cold delivery trip. But, even cold delivery trips still beat the best day in the office. Ciao for now.