Sunday October 30: Alligator River Marina

This morning was as nice as yesterday wasn't - except it is still cold. The dock was slippery with frozen dew - reminded me of the rivers in Alabama last year when it was so cold except then it was at least November instead of October! After a last ride (me) and walk (Steve) to breakfast in Elizabeth City, our last task was to fill the water tanks before we headed out. Steve is watching the tanks fill :-)

The sun was shining and the winds at our backs as we prepared to leave Pelican Marina and Abermarle Sound was relatively calmed down from the south winds of yesterday. It's a really large body of water - only the Outer Banks of North Carolina separate the Sound from the Atlantic. By the time we were most of the way across, the waves were between 1 and 2 feet. The hardest part of traveling today was we are headed south so the sun is always in my eyes - not great for spotting the crab pots which are just about anywhere as the depth of the sound is less than 18 feet. Much of it is only 10 - 12 feet which is the perfect depth for the crab pots!

Our arrival at the Alligator River Marina was well timed as the Browns game today didn't start until 4 pm. After watching the first half, I set the DVD to record the second half as it was time to head to the restaurant at the marina (which is also a gas station on the highway). Ms. Wanda makes it very clear that she turns the grill off at 7 pm so if you want any food, you better be there by then! The hamburgers were "world acclaimed" (not sure by who but .....) so how could we pass them up? Plus Steve had a night off from cooking. Food was quite good - I see breakfast in my future :-)

There were a bunch of sea gulls following us today down the sound. Not sure why. It didn't seem as though they were diving in the water or anything. Picture is sort of fuzz - sorry.

Tomorrow we'll fuel up and head to Dowry Creek Marina. With Steve's arm not healed yet we are both a little leery of anchoring and besides with marinas comes power comes all night heat without a noisy generator running!