Alligator River Marina - at a dock

Typical scenery heading to Elizabeth City - quiet and remote, lots of turtles and birds

We left the dock at the visitor center at 7:30 to make the 8:30 lock opening. Once there we saw that the ETA to Elizabeth City was 11:15 am. Since the weather for Saturday featured 15 to 20 kt winds out of the south on the Albemarle, it did not appear to be a good day for crossing the Albemarle on Saturday. So with that info tucked away, we decided to cross the Albemarle today when the winds were 5 kts or less.

How to walk in these woods?

So now we're at the Alligator River Marina, tied to a facedock and looking at the weather for Saturday. Meanwhile, I took Ann to the roadside 7-11 type store for their famous one dip ice cream which actually consisted of about three dips, great ice cream! The dockhand was complaining of the fuzzy bills making his store look like a green slime. Hopefully they don't get attracted to our boat tonight!

All tied up for the night at the Alligator River Marina

So the attraction of the moment is the weather forecast, you get that way when on a boat. We'll be watching it tonight and more importantly in the morning. We like calm passages, or at least not water over the bow. So far it looks like we could start out around 11:00 am or so since the winds are due to veer around to out of the west, an okay direction for us headed south - but that can always change! Decision time will be Saturday morning.