Norfolk VA

We left Beaufort on a blustery day, with expectations of getting to River Dunes, on the upper Neuse River.  The run from Beaufort took us through Adams Creek canal, which is a ~7 mile long cut hand dug by slaves in the 1800's.

We crossed the Neuse River in challenging sea conditions with 20 to 30 knots of wind, gusting to 40.  Seas were running 3 to 4 feet, with the occasional 6 footer.

This crossing was only 3 miles, so I figured this was as good a time as any to test the boat in moderate sea conditions.  And she handled it beautifully.  Stepped up the speed to 16 knots to get it over with as quickly as possible.  Took a bit of spray as high as the fly bridge, but the boat handled it well.  We did abandon the idea of River Dunes though as that was an additional 10 miles in tough sea conditions, and stopped in Oriental.  Oriental harbor is well protected so made for a relatively easy docking.  Borrowed bikes and went for a ride to tour the town.  Oriental is known as home to 500 residents, and 3000 boats. And great camellias in bloom.

The following day took us up the Neuse river headed for the Pamlico river.  The wind was stronger than forecast, but a bright morning.  We mushed along at 8.5 knots until clearing the Neuse for the cut to the Pamlico.  Turned out to be a very quiet crossing.














We spent the night in Belhaven, and walked the old town and visited a few of the shops.
















We left Belhaven early as the run to Alligator river is long, and the wind is lighter in the morning.  The Alligator River-Pungo River canal is about 20 miles long, with one slight turn.

We had planned on stopping at the north end of the Alligator river and crossing Albemarle Sound in the morning.  When we arrived early afternoon, it was apparent that this was as good an opprotunity as any to cross the notoriously difficult sound, which is similar in scale to crossing the Strait of Georgia..  We had a glorious afternoon, accompanied by a number of buzzings by a Coast Guard aircraft, presumably on a training mission, from a nearby base.





This turned out to be our longest single day run of the trip so far, at 77.5 miles over 8.75 hours.  We stopped at Coinjock marina, which is known for its prime rib dinner, which we took advantage of to celebrate.

One thing that really stood out to us on this leg was the great benefit that the ICW markers have provided to the bird population.  Probably every second marker had an osprey nest, and with the number of markers on the ICW, that is a lot of nests.  It is currently hatching time so the birds were plentiful.

 The following day took us the final 32 miles to Norfolk, which is the true mile Zero of the ICW.  We stopped at Atlantic Yacht Basin, where we are considering leaving he boat for the summer, but we will continue a few days north of here to the Washington area, for cherry blossom time.