Several years ago the new "Museum of the Albemarle" was opened in Elizabeth City North Carolina. Judy and I like museums and were naturally interested in seeing a new one. Since Elizabeth City is located on the Pasquotank River we were thinking that it would be really neat to travel there by boat. We considered it last summer and the summer before that but every time we looked at the details of the trip, it just seemed too far to travel in a week of vacation time.

This year we decided to go for it. I took a week plus two days of vacation time which would make the trip possible but there would be very little time to spare. That's why I named the log entry the "Albemarle Dash". There were many "firsts" on the trip. It was by far the longest single distance we had covered without returning to Ensign Harbor. We traveled a total of 227.4 nautical miles (261.7 statue miles) and spent 10 nights on the boat. We spent 2 nights at Ensign Harbor, 7 nights in 3 separate marinas along the way and one night at anchor.

We traveled in the most different bodies of water of any previous trip. We left Ensign Harbor and traveled down Brown Creek to Broad Creek. We entered the Lower Neuse River and probably entered the Pamlico Sound for a short time. Next we traveled up the Bay River to what we call the "Hobucken Cut" which leads to the south side of the Pamlico River. We crossed the Pamlico River and entered the Pungo River which took us to our first stop at Dowry Creek Marina west of Belhaven, NC. The next day we traveled east on the Pungo and entered the Alligator-Pungo Canal to the Alligator River. Our second stop was the Alligator River Marina which is near where the highway 64 swing bridge crosses. The next day we continued down the Alligator River to the Albemarle Sound, which we crossed to to enter the Pasquotank River. Our third stop was the Pelican Marina in Elizabeth City. The return trip was much the same except for an overnight at a beautiful anchorage in Campbell Creek, just north of Hobucken.

This was the first time we used more than a tank of fuel and had to re-fuel at a marina. This was because we did very little sailing. We don't expect to sail much when we travel but on this trip we ran the engine the entire time. We had a certain amount of ground to cover each day and the wind was never good enough and from the right direction to help more than an occasional assist.

This was a very interesting and enjoyable trip but it was entirely too much distance in too short a time. Most of the folks we met along the way are retired or on an extended cruise. They had timetables but none were as tight as ours Now that you have the big picture you may choose to read the daily log entries.

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Saturday May 30, 2009
We wanted to attend our niece Sarah's graduation ceremony on Saturday morning so we delayed our departure and watched Sarah walk across the stage and receive her diploma. Several Aunts, Uncles and Grandmothers were in attendance. Congratulations Sarah on a great accomplishment. We wish you much happiness in your life after school.

With the little Toyota Matrix heavily laden, we left for the coast. There were several stops to make, so the trip took quite some time. We arrived late but we had plenty of time. It took 5 dock carts to move all our equipment, clothes and provisions from the car to the boat. We must have raised Southern Star's water line at least an inch. Several dock mates were down for the weekend and we gathered in the cockpit until late.

Sunday May 31, 2009
We left Ensign Harbor at 9:15am for points north. The weather was nice with the wind from the west so we used the big jib and motor-sailed up the Bay River to the Hobucken Cut. We had a lot of ground to cover and sailing alone did not provide enough speed. We saw two bald eagles near the bridge and Judy got some pictures. I don't know why there are not more bald eagles in the area. It seems like the perfect habitat. We reached and crossed the Pamlico River and continued up the Pungo River to Dowry Creek Marina which is east of Belhaven by several miles. We had a reservation and found it to be a very nice marina. Since leaving Ensign Harbor, we had traveled 38.6 nautical miles in 6 hours and 32 minutes at an average speed of 5.9 knots. Judy served spaghetti for dinner. We were very tired and turned in early.

Monday June 1, 2009 (first day of hurricane season)
We had a lot of ground to cover in a single day so we left early, around 7:30. We continued up the Pungo River until we entered the Pungo - Alligator Canal. This is a ditch-like body of water connecting the Pungo and Alligator rivers (no surprise there). Going was slow in the canal. I think there was a bit of current that held our speed back. We crossed under two bridges but the rest of the canal was basically wilderness. If you have heard the term "in the middle of nowhere" it would certainly apply to the canal. When we reached the Alligator River we had about 10 miles of head to wind travel. Sailing was not an option, although the channel was certainly wide enough, it would have taken much too long to make the trip. When we were nearing the Alligator swing bridge, the wind had piped up and was close to 20 knots with a haze that seemed like smoke. The bridge tender opened at our request. As soon as we cleared the bridge we called the Alligator River Marina on VHF 16, where we had a reservation. We decided to top off the fuel tank since the access was so easy. We took on a whopping 7 gallons of diesel, and the dock master helped us get into a slip. Our travels for the day took us 43.1 nautical miles in 7 hours and 55 minutes for an average speed of 5.4 knots.

The marina is very nice, well kept, clean and relatively inexpensive. I was dead tired when we arrived. I had not asked for help at the wheel, and 8 hours steering can take a toll. When we got to the marina, my normal poking and prodding uncovered what I thought to be a fuel leak. We had diesel fuel in the bilge. This really worried me because I really do not like the idea of dumping anything in the water that does not belong there. We had only used 7 gallons of fuel after having motored for two full days so I knew there wasn't much fuel involved, but a teaspoon of diesel fuel on water looks like gallons. I tried to track down a fuel leak for over an hour. I couldn't find anything leaking or any evidence that anything had leaked. I had changed fuel filters a few weeks ago and had been very careful about not letting fuel escape during the process. The combination of being over tired and concerned about fuel in the bilge made me a unhappy camper on Monday night.

Tuesday June 2, 2009
We left Alligator River Marina after the fog lifted. The final leg of the trip to Elizabeth City would be the shortest. With the wind on our nose we motored all the way. We had been alerted by a posted notice in the bath house that we should be careful around marker #8 going north. It seems that the charts and the actual navigational aids differ slightly and it is really easy to run aground. The chart did indicate a channel that extended into shallow water, but using the marks, we had no trouble getting through.

This was our first encounter with the Albemarle Sound, which has the reputation of being the roughest body of inland water on the east coast. It was pretty calm this day and the trip was pleasant except for the crab pots we had to dodge. We are used to avoiding crab pots but we usually find them in shallow water. We found hundreds of them all the way across the sound even in water 20 feet deep. I'm sure there is a reason and I know the watermen are just making a living, but it would be nice to at least have a clear path part of the time.

Our original plan was to stay at least one night at Mariner's Warf, the free city dock, in Elizabeth City. That plan was changed to include getting a slip at the Pelican Marina instead. I knew a commercial marina could arrange for a diesel mechanic to look at our engine, and possible fuel leak, so we made a reservation by cell phone as soon as their office was opened for the day.

We arrived at about 1pm after travelling 29.5 nautical miles over 5 hours and 17 minutes at an average speed of 5.8 knots. The Pelican Marina is very nice. It is obviously the oldest of the three we had stayed at so far, but it is clean and well kept with substantial fixed wooden docks and a friendly, helpful staff. The bath facilities are clean and adequate. There are quite a few live-aboard folks, but the marina still seemed to have plenty of room for transient boaters. The price was a flat $35.00 which included free laundry, free WIFI Internet connectivity, and a boater's lounge. The flat rate was good for us, but bigger boats would enjoy a significant discount. The Pelican also has a small marine store that tends to be a hangout for locals. There is a shaded porch at the rear of the building that is undoubtedly the coolest un-air conditioned place in town.

The dock master called a mechanic for me. After a 3 hour delay, he arrived at about 6pm. He followed pretty much the same procedure that I had followed and arrived at the same conclusion. Dan (the mechanic) said "This engine is not leaking anything, anywhere". In fact he said the little power plant was in first class condition and should give many more years of service. Of course he had no way of knowing how much work we had done in the past, but it was good to get a favorable report. I learned a lot from Dan, and the bill was for one hour of his time and mileage. I chalked the bill up to part of the cost of the vacation. It was worth it for me to know there were no apparent problems, and I would not have to worry about it any more.

The only disadvantage in staying at the Pelican is walking across the draw bridge to get to town. It's not a long walk but the only thing that resembles a sidewalk is on the north side of the bridge, which means you have to cross a major highway and cross it again on the other side of the bridge. Judy and I walked the bridge to town so we could get our bearings. Our first impressions were good. Mariner's Warf was nice enough and, of course, free but very crowded with no facilities at all. The slips are small and finger piers are short. We were glad we were staying at the Pelican where we had electricity and hot showers. The "Wine Seller", a deli - bakery, stayed open longer than usual to serve us a sandwich. We were looking forward to a full day in town but needed to get some rest first. We took advantage of the Pelican's hot showers and turned in.

Wednesday June 3, 2009
The crew wore tourist hats today. The first order of business was to pay for our second night at the Pelican. With that done, we were off to cross the drawbridge again.

We both really like museums, Judy more than me, and we had not seen the relatively new "Museum of the Albemarle" which had opened in Elizabeth City within the last couple of years. Since we were sure the museum was air-conditioned we decided to take in some of the town in the morning while it was relative cool. There was a nice breeze all day. All small towns nowadays have a historic district. Elizabeth City is no exception. We did most of the walking tour and saw many old houses and interesting architecture. A volunteer gave us a tour of "Christ Church", an Episcopal church in down town. It was quite a beautiful building with an interesting story. We grabbed a burger at the "Carolina Grill" adjacent to the movie theater downtown. It was good food, and it was nice to have a place to rest up for the trip to the museum.

The museum was good but it seemed they have a lot of building for the number of artifacts and exhibits on display. Don't get me wrong, the content was great but hopefully there will be more things added as the museum ages. It covered the area from pre-historic times to the present. After a few hours in the museum we were tired and ready to relax.

We met a very nice couple on JULE III, a lovely German sloop that tied up beside us at the marina. They were on their way north but were going to stay in Elizabeth City for a few days. The marina staff seemed to know them. We think they are regulars.

I rigged the ship's theater after dinner on board and watched "The DaVinci Code" movie.

Thursday June 4, 2009
We left Elizabeth City before 8am headed for Alligator River Marina. When I called for a reservation they asked what time we would be there. I said mid-afternoon and they told me that the dock man came on duty at 1pm. The wind was on our nose so there was no sailing. Dodged crab pots again, all the way across the Albemarle Sound. The sound was very rough for no apparent reason. There was a lot of wave action and very little wind. Maneuvering was difficult with so many crab pots. The forecast was for thunderstorms in the afternoon so we wasted no time getting across the sound to the marina. We knew the trip would be short; it was 29.5 nautical miles in 4 hours, 54 minutes with an average speed of 6.0 knots. When we arrived, evidently the dock hand had not gone on duty. Our hail on VHF 16 went unanswered and we had to land ourselves. Luckily there were other boaters around to help. We docked beside a nice couple from Maryland, John and Dreena, aboard Dreena, a really nice Cal 39. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We had a sandwitch in the marina's convenience store grill.

The wind built steadily so that by late afternoon, it was probably blowing nearly 30 knots. At about 6pm, a large sailboat tried to come into the marina. The boat was pitching wildly and the engine quit when he was just inside the rock lined jetty. We think the pitching was so bad that the fuel pickup got an air bubble which stopped the engine. All the boat folks went to help. Walking on that rock jetty was dangerous because the rocks huge and loose. A plan was devised to use long lines to the other side of the channel and pull him to safety. An attempt was made to call the tow boat but suddenly the engine started and he was able to land under his own power. The skipper was visible shaken by the incident. I can't say I blame him. We had a light dinner and rigged the ship's theater and watched a movie.

Friday June 5, 2009
We woke to a driving rain and promptly went back to sleep. We knew the forecast was for a 70% chance of rain and we were probably not going anywhere. The wind was still from the south and very strong. The Alligator River looked more like an angry ocean than a river. There were about a dozen boats in the marina and by 9am all had paid up for another day. It was kind of cool to have a day in which to do nothing. Judy fixed macaroni and cheese and vegetables for dinner. We set up the ship's theatre again after dinner and watched a movie.

Saturday June 6, 2009
The weather forecast was for a nice day but I don't think the Alligator River got the memo. We wanted to leave early because we had a lot of miles to cover. We waited for a few light rain showers to pass. The wind had shifted overnight and was north east at 15 to 20 knots. If we were going to go we could not wait much longer and we did not have that many "weather days" built into our schedule. My thinking was that if we could get to the Alligator Pungo canal, we would be protected from high winds. We left before 8am in a cold light rain. We slogged north for a while because I didn't want to be too close to the bridge at a place where it did not open. We requested an opening and got it with no problems. When we turned and headed south, the wind, of course, was at our back. We motored and dodged crab pots most of the morning in a cold rain before entering the canal. Judy heated some soup on the alcohol stove. It is amazing how good something like that tastes. By the time we entered the canal it had stopped raining and the weather was actually quite pleasant. Judy spotted another Bald Eagle shortly after entering the canal. The trip today was 43.6 nautical miles in 6 hours, 33 minutes at an average speed of 6.3 knots.

We had made a reservation at Dowry Creek Marina and we arrived there at about 2:30. We still had some concerns about thunderstorms but they were unfounded. We bought 9 gallons of fuel and wanted to have our head pumped but the marina's pump system was not working. Judy made a chicken and pasta dish that was really good. After dinner we rigged the ship's theater and watched a movie, or at least ran a movie, sometimes we run the movie and sleep.

Sunday June 7, 2009
We topped off the water tanks and took on ice before leaving the marina. The weather forecast was good and we wanted to take our time getting back. There was a favorable wind for sailing, so we raised both sails when we turned south on the Pungo River. It was a good thought but the wind was so light that we never even turned the engine off. We motor sailed for several hours hoping we could just sail, but it did not happen. We crossed the Pamlico river and entered (what we call) the "Hobucken Cut" which connects the southern shore of the Pamlico River to the Bay river. We had stayed at marinas every night so far and thought it would be nice to anchor out at least one night of the trip. We would pass by Campbell Creek, one of the best anchorages we have ever used on our way home. We pulled in and dropped the hook.

Campbell Creek is a beautiful place. There are a few nice homes on the south shore but the north side is basically wilderness. I had been looking forward to taking a swim on a hot afternoon because I remembered the water as being fresh water. Judy took one look and informed me that there were jellyfish in that water and she does not swim with jellyfish (smart girl). We observed many skates (stingrays) which I thought were saltwater animals as well. Either my memory is wrong or the conditions this year have turned the creek into a salt water environment. We arrived at about 1 pm after travelling 22 nautical miles in 3 hours 54 minutes at an average speed of 5.6 knots.

The galley served Mexican food at Campbell Creek and it was delicious. After dinner, Judy was talking to our friend Becky on the cell phone and we noticed that the bilge pump came on. This is a normal occurrence. When it came on a second time in as many minutes, it is not a normal occurrence. I went below very quickly and found the house water system pump running continuously. It turns out that all the engine vibration had caused a water hose to come loose from the water pump. The water pump was happily pumping all the water out of our fresh water tanks and into the bilge. The bilge pump was happily pumping it overboard for us. I put a stop to all that pumping with a screwdriver and a hose clamp.

Since he captain had neglected to bring a converter for the computer, and the computer battery is only good for a few minutes, using the ship's theatre was not an option. The crew turned in early hoping to get an early start and a jump on any bad weather to come on Monday. I was up several times during the night to check the anchor and was treated to a beautiful sight. A full moon had risen over the creek. It was almost like daylight outside.

Monday June 8, 2009
We woke to thick fog on Campbell Creek. It was a beautiful sight, but we hoped it would not stay around long. We prepared to get underway and left at about 8am when the fog had lifted so that we could see our channel markers. Again we were hoping to sail on the way home and again it was not to be. The strong winds from earlier on the week had diminished. When we got to the Bay River, the conditions were beautiful sunshine big puffy clouds and not a breath of wind. The light southerly would barely have moved the boat and of course, you guessed it, right on our nose. We motored home without incident. We say the towboat pass by on his way to pull some pour soul out of the mud near Hobucken but that was the extent of the excitement for the trip. Our dock mate Chuck was around to help us tie up. The bowlines had been in the water for 10 days and they made a proper mess on the bow of the boat. The trip from Campbell Creek was 21.1 nautical miles in 3 hours 33 minutes at an average speed of 5.9 knots.

Since we didn't really eat any breakfast, we drove to town for lunch at the M&M then stopped at the grocery store for ice and a few supplies. We spent some down time in the cockpit after lunch. There were a few boat chores like pumping out the head and fixing the fresh water leak but I waited until a cooler part of the day for that.

With the chores done, Judy made a nice vegetable dinner and we watched "Fried Green Tomatoes" on the ship's theater. The evening had cooled down nicely and the cabin was comfortable for sleeping.

Tuesday June 9, 2009
Today was the day we had to return to the real world. We were in no hurry for that so we treated ourselves to breakfast at the Oriental Harbor Deli. They serve a good breakfast and it's not too expensive. We like to eat outside on the deck when the weather is nice, and it was very pleasant this morning. We returned to the boat and prepared her to go again. We loaded at least 5 carts of stuff back in the car and left Whortonsville at about 10 am. The drive home was uneventful. We stopped near Raleigh for a late lunch.

We had a great time on the water this week. We are looking forward to spending a lot of time on the water this year. We hope to entertain friends, and maybe even plan some activities that would involve our dock mates, like raft-ups and short cruises.

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