Nautical Miles Travelled: 84 nautical miles (98 statue miles) & we passed Mile Marker 100 today on the ICW!
Total Trip Miles: 535 nautical miles

We started our morning by checking in with the Alligator River Bridge to see if they were opening today with the gusty wind conditions. Fortunately for us, we woke at the same time as our fellow boats in the marina and were able to get a 4-boat crew timed together for a special bridge opening. So off we were...today, luckily down wind! While we started as boat #2 in the caravan through the bridge, we quickly hoisted the genaker and off we were through the wide Alligator River as boat #1. The River is more like a lake due to it's size, but the water is dark dark dark brown, so it feels like a river for sure.

The first few hours of the trek were windy but fun as we launched down the open area of the ICW in a down wind run. Once reaching land, we navigated through the dredged ICW which is a 150' wide cut through the swamps and land. We kept the sail up for a while until the twists of the river forced us back onto motors only. We quickly found ourselves all alone in the river and so the new goal for the day - see an Alligator!

I'm happy to report that after hours of searching, I spotted some bubbles and up popped an Alligator!!! He was little, but an alligator none the less. Funny how exciting it can be to see something other than muddy water and egrets all day.

So after the excitement of alligator river, we progressed through the Pungo River where we figure the other three boats must have ended their day in Bellhaven. We, on the other hand, were on a misson to make some distance. We flew through the rivers and into the Palmico Sound where it was blowin' strong and we were off riding waves down wind. We ran an average of 10 knots with the highlight at 11.3 knots when Soul Purpose surfed the 6' waves. We pushed onward with our eyes set on a neat little sailing town called Oriental. We called into the marnia at 5:30 PM and the were ready for our arrival just past night fall at 6:45 PM. We crept into the harbor behind the breakwater and tied up at a 400' face dock, met by Russ who tipped us off to the restaurant's fare and the party presently underway at the Tiki Bar.

After a long 12 hr day of sailing through cool winds and overcast skies, we were well overdue for a hot shower and some food. We had a twisted tea to relax while getting cleaned up and then headed to dinner and the Tiki Bar. We met the locals who were extremely welcoming. We ate a fullfilling dinner of mussels and flounder and had a few more drinks to close out the night. By the time we hit our pillows, we were ready for a good nights sleep, hopefully to do it all again tomorrow...