Voyage 2016: Chapter 1

02 May 2016, On to Elizabeth City, 35 14.7 N/ 076 35.454 W

Forecast improved (a bit) so we decided to head up to the Alligator River and anchor for the night. En route, we decided to add a few Jerry jugs of fuel to the main tanks. We have our own method of on-passage fueling which normally works pretty well. Yesterday was no exception. Two tanks were transferred and not a drop spilled. We arrived at the Deep Point anchorage at 1620 with a storm on our heels. Hook down and the storm fizzled. The anchorage was not crowded and everybody (well, almost everybody) had anchor lights.

Left the anchorage at 0615 with a destination of the Pelican Marina in Elizabeth City and Camden county. We had the jib up for the Alligator river, but extinguished it before the bridge. We were one of the few that did not bring the jib out right after the bridge as the wind was puffy and the crab pots were plentiful. Still we used the jib in the middle of the Albermarle where the pots were less frequent. Capt. Bob looks like he is having fun, doesn't he?

Pasquotank River did not have the usual number of crab pots as the river may be cooler than past years and the crabs may have not migrated up the river yet. Good for us. Today, the weather is unstable and there are thunder squalls all around us, but each one seemed to steer clear of us. Lucky day for us. We heard that the draw bridge was broken and traffic was stuck in Elizabeth City. The bridge would not cause us grief today as the Pelican is on the Sound side of the river. Arrived at the Pelican at 1435 and we were greeted by Mike. We got our usual slip. We plan on staying 6 days to socialize and wait out weather.

8 May 2016, A (almost) Week at the Pelican, 36 17.994 N/ 076 12.738 W

The Pelican is one of our homes away from home as we know the people, the area, and the water. We hear that the marina has recently been sold and there are improvements planned. The Pelican is part of an annexed area of Elizabeth City (in another county on the other side of the Pasquotank River) and gets to pay city taxes and receives little in return. The whole waterfront area around here continues to suffer. Still, there are highlights that should not be missed such as the Arts of the Arbermarle, the Harbor of Hospitality, and the draw bridges.

Capt. Bob likes EC as it is a place to relax. We have power, laundry, showers, and friends. Life is good. Many of you know that we lost Sammy Jane several months ago to renal failure. We got another "Sammy Jane" to remind us of our old mate. The new SJ is about as much trouble as the mate.

The weather here has been mostly good but cool. We did have to rent a car and drive to ILM to address a house issue. On the way back we stopped by St. Jude's to say hi and have a quick bite to eat. On our last day at the Pelican, we had a surprise visitor, Josh and his daughter Leona. Josh was the marina manager for the 10 years we have been visiting. He arrived back in the area and we were lucky to get a visit before we left.