Sunday May 22: Elizabeth City, NC

We've traveled 120 miles the past 3 days with extremely nice weather seemingly following us and are now only 51 miles from Norfolk. VA. It's hard to believe we left Hollywood FL just over 3 weeks ago!

The waterways for the past 3 days have mostly been large and small rivers. The anchorage Friday night was quiet - half a dozen boats joined us. The large rivers (names are on the map above) are VERY large. They look like you could be on Lake Erie but the depth is usually no more that 15 feet with many shallow spots along the edges. Dowry Creek Marina was a nice stop after not having access to a real grocery store for over a week. There wasn't much there except some very nice people - and a courtesy car! Steve manages to stock up up again and found a place for the watermelon so it wouldn't roll around while we were underway. Strangely enough, the waters we have been in the the past few days is fresh water! Which mean no tides as the tidal surge does not make it up the rivers. The color is strange - kind of like tea - due to the tannic acid produced by the vegetation on the river bottom. The picture is our prop wash.

Yesterday was 20 miles or so on a canal - pretty boring with little or no wildlife or anything and then the large Alligator River.

We found a nice anchorage that was a bit out of the way but kept us protected in case the winds decided to not lay down. First is the sunset, then the sunrise (up at 6:15) and Joysea peacefully at anchor this morning.

It was a short 35 miles to Elizabeth City this morning. We had many hitchhikers as we moved down the lake. A light south wind will do that - the gnats like to be out of the sun and wind so guess where they position themselves! Saw a blimp and hanger on the way in and then the challenge for the day is getting on and off the boat - shades of Pennekamp!

A quick bike ride around town found that like many of the areas in which we have been, there isn't really any downtown left as everything has moved about a mile or so out of town - closer to main roads through the area. There were a few historical plaques, HUGE old homes and at the hardware store I found a chair that was fun :-) The guy at the store commented that soccer moms like them and also that he sells a lot for the Christmas parade! It's still strange to think that anyone would mind being in the sun for a Christmas parade!