Elizabeth City at a free dock

Duck Weed!

The trip from the welcome center to the south lock was much better than the day  before. We only hit one log, a small one (if hitting logs  bothers you then the Dismal Canal route is not for you). Everybody left for the 8:30 opening of the lock but we decided to stay over and take the 11:00 opening so we could have a leisurely breakfast.

The dock before the bridge - a basic dock but it's free

Upon exiting the canal we were beset with duck week. It covered the creek beyond the canal like a blanket, a green carpet from shore to shore. We've never seen it this bad in our previous two trips. Luckily, the boat in front of us was pushing the duck week aside, providing a relatively clear path for us which we too advantage of. Also on the list of things to enjoy were deadheads, floating logs barely visible above the surface but with a lot of mass below the surface. When you hit one you knew it, a loud "thunk"! Again, we've never seen so many as this year.

The city provided free entertainment for the boaters Friday night - a rock band

As we approached Elizabeth City, the duck week finally parted and we found a dock on the north side just in front of the bridge. We're fond of this dock because it's fully protected from the south winds which can make the docks at Elizabeth City very rocky. On the down side, they are close to the bridge so you get the noise of cars passing over the bridge all day and some during the night but we'll trade that off for a calm boat.

We had a good night out at the Cypress Creek Grill. It's a nice, inexpensive restaurant that was packed on a Friday night - a good sign. Be sure to make reservations in advance. On Sunday we're headed across the Albemarle Sound to the Alligator River Marina for refueling and a dock.