Alligator River Marina – At a dock

There were a long line of boats going north

I’ve had a terrible time getting an internet connection the last few days. I’ve had phone service but no data service and therefore no internet. But we’re now at the Alligator River Marina and they have WiFi which I’m using now. The weather has turned clear and cooler but with highs still in the 70’s. Today was a motoring day and we’re starting to see more boats now, more of what I expected when I first came south on the ICW. In talking to the marina personnel here, they said the marina business was off 50% from years past.

One very long dock and a few slips to the left

There were no insects of any kind last night but as the wind died this morning, the mosquitoes came out which I had to drive away by opening everything up in the cockpit and shooing them out. We were also concerned about “fuzzy bills” but they didn’t show up, much to our relief. We encountered them along the Alligator River on the way down in the fall and found the boat covered with green goo in the morning. It took me 5 hours to clean the boat that time.

We left with the intention of joining up with the Bunches and their yacht club flotilla sail to the Chesapeake but it appears we are a day ahead of the group. Furthermore, we can’t communicate with any of them since we’re all in a phone dead zone. Cellphone service is not 100% coverage, no matter what the ads say.

Getting into this marina was an experience in shallow water. The entrance has shoaled up to 4.8 ft! That’s just about what we need so we squeaked through. Shallow water no longer has the fear factor it had in the fall. The boat ahead of us drew 6 ft and they could not make it. They turned around and headed up the river. It’s quiet now and we’ll head for Elizabeth City on Sunday. I wonder where Don and Liz Bunch are??