2006.11.26

Greetings from Belhaven North Carolina...

Firstly, we are so happy with all the feedback we are now getting... blogging is a lonely business.... hello!!!! anybody out there or are we just talking to ourselves!! thanks guys keep it up.

We left Coinjock early yesterday morning and had a nice day down the Albemarle Sound and then the Alligator river in addition to all the "cuts" and canals. The ICW is made up of both natural bodies of water such as sounds and rivers and man made canals to connect them. The rivers are huge, wider than the St. Laurent and there are many bridges, some have a clearance of 65ft which we need to clear our mast and the others have to be opened for us, we have to request such opening by contacting the bridge master (or mistress as in this one) on the VHF and then traffic is stopped and the bridge is either raised or swung or basculed depending on the type.

Last night we anchored for the first time on this leg of the trip, in a very remote area on the Alligator river (did not see any.. but also did not go swimming!)

No wifi even the phones had no coverage!! total wilderness..

There was zero light pollution so after witnessing a magnificent sunset we were treated to a starlit sky sans pareil...my favourite constellation, the Pleiadies (my sisters) were there in their shy way...

Same anchorage same sun but it is rising now on the other side of the boat.

As soon as we anchored yesterday I, actually, baked cookies... oatmeal & raisins, as some of you may know I am not a baker, and when the recipe called for vanilla that I did not have I substituted a drop of rum...hummmmmm!!!

As Catherine has said an uneventful day but lots of natural wilderness to see. For those reading this, think of the film " Deliverance" and you may start to get the picture. We travelled down a totally uninhabited canal for 21 miles with nothing but jungle and swamps on either side to come out into the Pungo river with beautiful, large and clearly wealthy homes on the river bank. Quite a change from the previous 20 miles. This morning started out in fog with visibilty of half to less than half a mile after which a bright, clear sunny day. Still cold on the water, but when we docked in Belhaven , off came all the various layers of clothing and I was finally able to rinse the deck of the boat in shorts, a t shirt and sandals. Now this is why we are coming this way !!!

All for now but I think Catherine has some more pics to add another time. Tomorrow we will likely be anchoring and then on Tuesday we hope to be in Beaufort thus you lucky people may expect an addition to this screed!!

Binow.