Alligator River Marina - Non predicted winds, deep enough to get in, at a dock

 

There were seven boats in here tonight

The forecast for today was for 6 to 8 kt winds, including gusts from Dowry Creek to the Alligator River Marina. The first half of the prediction was true, in the canal. Once we rounded out and started up the Alligator River, the winds piped up averaging 15 kts with sustained gusts to 19 kts! It was not quite what the weatherman said, nor any of the apps! It was a wild ride with the wave build-up. 

Watch out for that board, unfinished dock work

We had heard that the entrance to the Alligator River Marina had been dredged so we weren't too concerned about making it in but after talking to the dock over the phone, doubts crepted in. It seems that indeed they had dredged it, down to 8 ft according to the owner but the sustained north winds of the last three days (unforecasted!) pushed a lot of water out and lowered the water level in the marina by at least one foot! 

All dredged material had to go somewhere

I recorded the water depths coming in and saw 5.6 feet in Aqua Map. Once at the dock, I saw that the usual level step off now required a foot high step from the boat up to the dock. So on a "normal" day, the depth over the bar on the way in should be 6.6 feet. There is ample evidence of the dredging since there's a large mount of dredged material by Wanda's old house. I guess they had to put it somewhere. 

I saw this double-wide barge headed my way on the narrow Alligator-Pungo Canal!
I met him right by the area with all the stumps poking out of the water!

We never miss having an ice cream cone at the marina! I order just one scoop but they pile it on at least two scoops high, very good. They close at 7:00 pm so don't wait too long. 

We head for Coinjock on Tuesday, hopefully, the weatherman has better luck with his forecast than he did with Alligator River!