Elizabeth City, NC

So glad to be in Elizabeth City, NC!

We crossed the Albemarle Sound this morning.  It was a bumpy ride for the first hour.  I couldn't even knit:  I needed to stand up and watch for crab pots.  They were scattered and hard to see with the waves and white caps.  We had two foot waves and some spray over our bow. The first fifteen minutes when we were really out in the sound lasted an hour.  I kept turning around and looking at the clock.  Time stood still as we bounced over the water.  George tacked closer to shore, and that was a big help, cutting down on the fetch.  The second hour was more comfortable.  We were out with four other boats.  Our real sign of relief came when the water was calm enough for me to go out on the back porch and bring in two beers for later.  I put those babies in the freezer, so we could celebrate at noon.  (We did!)

Elizabeth City, NC, is a friendly town with lots of free docks right downtown.  There is a park beside the water, and people have been sitting on benches or walking nearby the boats all day.  Looper friends from Nearly Perfect grabbed our lines after George did a great job of backing into the slip.  The finger dock is so tiny that it's just a stunted thumb.

I have to hold onto our boat rail above my head and step over the gap onto the dock or the stool.  

Not a comfortable way to get off the boat.  Climbing on is easier.

This is the view looking back into the river from Aunt Aggie.  

When we arrived, the Pasquotank River, flowing by Elizabeth City, was quiet.  About an hour ago we started feeling steady rocking. It's the wind picking up again as the afternoon progresses.  But we are safely tied.  Tomorrow we move into the Great Dismal Swamp.