Yesterday we spent the majority of the day motoring through narrow channels with really shallow water all around them. We got to the Pamlico Sound and headed across to the anchorage Bill had picked out that was approximately half way to Orcacoke. We brought the boat as close as we dared to go to the land to escape the swell that was coming at us. Even though the chart said there was only four feet of water our depth sounder read seven. After closer consideration Bill decided we were better off having a rough night than possibly going aground and getting stuck long term if the water was only deep enough because the wind was blowing so hard from that direction. There is no actual tide in this area so if we got stuck it could be for quite a while. We pulled the anchor back up and headed out to deeper water. And yes, we had a rough night. We’ve had worse but it really was not pleasant. It was almost as if we were sleeping at sea.

This morning it was a bit calmer when we headed back out to the Pamlico Sound and across to Orcacoke. We had our sails up but we used the engine too. There just wasn’t enough wind to move us as fast as we wanted to get there. There were a number of big fishing boats out on the Sound. There are big ferries that go into Orcacoke, luckily not when we were in the channel though.

We anchored in Silver Lake and headed out in the dinghy. A boat we were tied up near in Elizabeth City came in and told us he had been going down the ICW and all the way down the Alligator-Pungo Canal, which is a very long way, and he had to turn around and go back because his mast was too tall to go under the bridge right now because the water is so high. Apparently, the water in the whole area is extra high because of the wind so it was good that we didn’t stay where we originally anchored the night before. We would not have had that problem since our mast is not as tall but we found it very interesting. We had heard a lot of reports of trees floating in the Alligator River too. We are glad we skipped that this time.

When we got to shore we decided to rent bikes for today and tomorrow. We aren’t sure what the weather will be like tomorrow so I wanted to see the beach today. We rode the bikes, the old coaster type, to the beach and had a nice walk in the surf, as you can see above. We managed to find a not incredibly expensive restaurant for a nice dinner. Tomorrow we will hit the museums and the lighthouse and maybe ride to the beach again.