ALLIGATOR RIVER TO ORIENTAL, NORTH CAROLINA

We left the Alligator River Marina early on October 1st. Onnce we were inside the Alligator River/Pungo River Canal it was deeper and wider than the Dismal Swamp. The water was not as brown as the Dismal but still had that brown color. There was more traffic going both ways and, although we saw no alligators, there was an abundance of wildlife, including a wide variety of birds. A wider Alligator/Pongo River Canal

Alligator hiding places

Lots of unusual birds.

The trip was rather uneventful and we wound up getting to the Pungo River around 3 PM and decided to try to anchor at Belhaven, which was reported to be a very popular anchorage for ICW travelers. When we got into the protected Panga River, there was only one other boat anchored. The marinas also seemed very empty and we were starting to have some doubts as to the popularity of Belhaven. The anchorage was very "bumpy", even inside the storm breakwall and the wind continued to increase and it began to rain. We decided to just stay on the boat and wait until morning to go to town. The morning wasn't much better. The rain continued and the wind continued to blow 15 to 20 knots. We decided to stay put for the whole day and wait for the weather to clear. By mid afternoon, the rain had let up and we decided to go into town. The guide books said the town was a throw back to the 1960's and they were not too far off. The bulk of the town is on two streets and most of the buildings were vacant. There was only 3 "sit down" restaurants and one carry out. One of them was only open from Thursday through Saturday. Another little cafe was only open until 2 PM and the other "sitdown" closed at 2 PM and re-opened at 5 PM. The only other "attractions" were a drug store, a musemum, and a "convenience" store, where Denise was able to get a huge serving of ice cream since the flavor she wanted was near the bottom of the container and the owner just decided to give her all that was left for free. The museum was very interesting and very unusual. It was a collection of a local lady who had passed away and her children had sold everything she had collected in her home to the museum. It appeared to be displayed in a similar manner as it was in her home, dust and all. It included all kinds of memerobilia including, buttons, toys, dolls, military clothing and equipment from World War I and II (including a 100 year old machine gun used in World War I), household items spanning almost 100 years, original newspapers, and hundreds of other items too numerous to mention. Harvest Moon rising at Belhaven, North Carolina

A REAL skeleton in the closet at the museum

Fetus in a jar? Yuch! you can decide what they are.

After we toured the museum, we went back to see if we could get together with some of the other cruisers we had seen. The other sailboat in the bay was from France. The two Frenchmen were sitting on the dingy dock having a few beers and we heard some hilarious stories about his trip. The other couple had run into us at Cape May, New Jersey and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. We had dinner with them at the one restaurant that re-opened at 5. The next morning we were up before the sun and were able to raise the anchor and leave at 7 AM. We made great time going down the Pungo River, across the Pamlico River, into Goose Creek, out Bay River and up the Neuse River. There was a lot of scenery and we saw our second pair of dolphins frolicking in the Pungo River. We decided to stop in Oriental, North Carolina since it was consiered the sailing capital of North Carolina since it has more sailboats than residents. We decided to go into a marina to get the luxuries they had to offer that we can't get at anchor and decided to stay at the Oriental Marina and Inn. Oriental, itself, was a little disappointing. It had a few more stores and restaurants than Belhaven, but not by much. The sun going down on the fishing trawlers and processing plant in Oriental.

One of 20 artesian wells that early settlers used for fresh water.

One of the many beautiful and historic houses in Oriental

I have not figured out how to put all my google maps together, and I apologize for that. There are now 3 seperate maps when you click on "our map" at the top of the blog. They are in order, but the first one stops at Lake Oneida in New York and the 2nd one stops at Botkin Creek in Maryland. Tomorrow we will head further South along the intercoastal. If the weather is right, we will even try to hop out into the open ocean for a while.