Alligator River Marina Aboard Veritas

As usual, we rose early and were ready to head off on the trip from Belhaven to Alligator River. We've become set in a pattern of early to rise, early to bed; sunrise to sunset. It's a nice routine. This section of the Loop is without much stress. We take turns at the helm, chat and watch for the next set of markers.

After casting our lines, we spent most of our day on the Alligator River Pungo Canal. It's easy to traverse but there's not a lot out there, just the canal and shoreline. We are gifted with views of eagles, osprey, and tons of butterflies, mostly swallowtails. They danced around the boat, moving too quickly to get good photos. The canal is long and straight creating an illusion called vanishing point. The waterway seems to disappear in the distance. We see beautiful reflections in the calm waters.

Belhaven Sunrise

Beautiful Mornng in Belhaven, NC

Pungo River Calm

Early morning Calm

Dave at the wheel

Dave on deck looking ahead

Susan relaxing

Dave and David at the helm

David watching fishing boat pass

We caught up to the fishing boat later

Fishing Fleet at Maritime Supply Lowland, NC

Alligator Pungo Canal

Reflections

Reflections

Birds in flight

Canal beach reflection

Dave and I were sitting with our bare feet hanging over the gunnel trying to get rid of the silly stripes from wearing our sandals all day. Suddenly, the boat was covered in dragonflies. One settled onto my foot and sat there for a good ten minutes. My dear Uncle Fred passed away recently. He once told me that if he could come back to visit me he would return as a dragonfly. Dave commented, "Looks like Uncle Fred came for a visit and brought all his friends!"

Eventually the canal opened up to the Alligator River which would lead us to the Albermarle Sound.  We went under the Alligator River Swing Bridge and took a quick left to  enter the marina channel. Alligator River Marina is actually a gas station. There is a fake lighthouse near the docks and a bathhouse a short walk away but it's not a marina where local people stay. It's more like dock space for transient boaters. There are two fishing boats docked that may call this home; otherwise the place is empty except for Veritas and a trawler.

Leaving canal, entering Alligator River

Approaching the Alligator River Swing Bridge

Almost open for us

Beautiful sky over the bridge

Passing through

Veritas under Alligator River Light

Veritas at Alligator River Marina Dock

Alligator River Light

Dave on the Alligator River Dock

We visited the gas station to pay for dockage. It has a cute little restaurant with a greasy spoon kitchen. We read that they make fabulous bisquits here. We purchased ice and beer and returned to Veritas for the night. There is nothing within walking distance to explore so we headed to bed early. We had a long but easy day of keeping our eagle eyes on the horizon. We are tired!

Alligator River Marina

Veritas at Alligator River Marina

Dave and I walked up to the bath house before bed. We found a tiny tree frog curled up in the bathroom. This is the second tree frog we have encountered on this trip. Dave carefully gathered it up and released it in the bushes outside.

When we got back to the boat we noticed Veritas giving big burps and tossing lots of water out of the bilge. The guys went below to investigate and found that the hot water line had melted. We are taking on water in the aft cabin hatch where the water heater is located. David turned off the hot water heater and began the hose repair. This is a repair David has done before, only one year earlier ,so he has everything he needs and is able to fix it easily. We'll be fine for now but David will have to figure out what's causing this. It can wait until they are back to their home port.

We usually enjoyed a couple of beers in the cockpit at the end of our travel days. This was a three beer night after all the excitement. Tomorrow we'll head for Coinjock in Chesapeake, Virginia. Susan and David will be crossing their wake soon! Excitement is building!