We left Manteo NC on Roanoke Island at 6:30AM Wednesday headed west into Albemarle Sound for approximately 20 miles and then southwest into the Alligator River and then through the Pungo River Canal.

We did not even put the sails up. The wind was basically on our nose all day. The mizzen sail was up when we left anchorage but we took it down when we went in for fuel at Alligator River Marina. 72 miles is a long day. I bet we have averaged over 60 miles per day on the days we have traveled.

We dropped anchor at 6:15PM just outside Scranton Creek in the Pungo River. This is what you pay the big bucks for, going to have a beautiful sunset with waves gently lapping p on the boat, great breeze and a very big drink of choice in my hand. We did not go into the creek because I wanted the breeze to go along with the rest. Protection from bad weather is a ways off but is still there if needed.

One of the problems with anchoring out of the current is that the wind is on your nose and blocked by the Bimini (when sitting in the cockpit). Pat brought the chairs up front to the foredeck and this solves the problem perfectly as you can see pictured above from our first "selfie" of the trip.

We may go to New Bern, NC once we make it into the Neuse River tomorrow but it's 27 miles past Oriental, which is 50 miles from our current anchorage. That will be another long day and too far off the ICW for a side trip at this time. New Bern will probably have to wait until next year.

We want to go to Cape Lookout again, so I think if we leave Beaufort NC on Sunday we can make it back home to Beaufort SC in 5 to 6 days. The distance from Beaufort (NC) to Beaufort (SC) is 335 miles so we will need to average about 60 miles a day to make it home by following weekend of July 18/19.