Alligator River Marina - at a dock

The Pungo-Alligator Canal is straight as an arrow, a man made cut on the ICW

In this area of the ICW we prefer to take a dock rather than anchoring out, mainly for two reasons: Fuzzy Bills and alligators. The Fuzzy Bills look just like mosquitoes but they don't bite. Instead they transform your boat into green slime if you happen to hit their swarming period. Several years ago I did just that and spend five hours cleaning the boat of all the green stains along with four other boats in the same predicament at the next marina. I do not want to repeat that. Captains that have not experienced the "green slime attack" don't know what all the fuss is about and anchor out around here, not me! Once is enough.

Just a face dock, nothing fancy - but they did have good WiFi, we watched the derby over the internet

The other hazard is alligators. We're concerned since I have to take Hoolie into shore three times a day. Once I get beyond the Dismal Swamp I'm no longer concerned about alligators but here I am. so with those in the back of my mind, I just take a dock on the Alligator River.

The marina here is just a roadside stop for cars with a few docks added for boats. They say location is everything and the marina is halfway between our Pungo River anchorage and Elizabeth City, our next stop plus they have fuel and water.

Hopefully Sunday is as good a day as Saturday

On Sunday we're due to cross the Albemarle Sound. It can be a nasty stretch of water with a north wind over 15 kts. The wind tomorrow is due out of the west, not the north so it ought to be doable but I expect a choppy ride. With our luck, the weatherman will be wrong and the wind will be out of the north, the worst direction for our crossing. We'll either take a free dock in Elizabeth City or go on to the facedock just before the south lock in the Dismal Swamp Canal. We'll see how we feel after the Albemarle and going directly into the wind to Elizabeth City.