We got an early start out of Beaufort and had a perfect sailing day. A strong tide was with us for the better part of the day and then the wind picked up in the later part of the day giving us a good advantage on making up some lost time. We spent a good part of the day on the Pamlico Sound, which can be one of two things, beautiful for sailing or terrible for sailing. Fortunately, we experienced a good sailing day on the sound. We pulled into an anchorage in Belhaven, NC – making it a 70 mile day! It was a nice anchorage and Tony remembered he and Bob Javorcic, (Anne’s Brother-in-law) had anchored here on the last trip down in 1995.
Thursday June 19 – Alligator/Pungo River, NC MM 80 through 135
We sailed from Belhaven through the Alligator River and we ended our day at the Alligator River Marina.
Elizabeth City, NC
We sailed through the Albemarle Sound into Elizabeth City, NC. The Albemarle Sound, much like the Pamlico, has a reputation for either great sailing or “wind in your face, waves crashing the bow, not so great sailing”. Again, we were lucky and had a beautiful sailing day into Elizabeth City.
We arrived in Elizabeth City at about 2:00 p.m. where we stopped at the Pelican Marina. Elizabeth City has public docks, but again, given the hot muggy weather, we opted for air conditioning and decided to head into the marina. Elizabeth City is a pleasant and friendly town, eager to welcome cruisers. The town includes a 30 block walking tour of architecturally significant buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Elizabeth City is also home to the largest Coast Guard station in the US, with approximately 900 active duty personnel and 600 civilian employees. As we sailed into the harbor, we had an air show above us of helicopters, jets, and other Coast Guard aircraft. The funny thing was, we never saw a Coast Guard boat?!
We made the decision, given the recent reports, to take the Dismal Swamp route, vs. the Virginia Cut into Norfolk, ending the ICW route for us. We had always wanted to take the Dismal Swamp route, but since our boat requires a minimum depth of 6 feet, it has been questionable in prior years due to water depths. This year, we were assured there was plenty of water in the Dismal Swamp to carry depths 6 to 9 feet throughout.
