Alligator River

First, because I know Mom is reading this and worries, it's NOT called the Alligator River because it's teeming with hungry, man-eating reptiles! It's called that because when you look at it on a chart, it has the shape of an alligator! :)

Dawn Over Elizabeth City Harbor

Anyway, up before dawn, our usual routine when we're on the move, so we can get going by first light and make the most of the short number of daylight hours we have.

Down the river, south of Elizabeth City in the small town of Weeksville, stands the old WWII-era naval blimp airdock, which was used to house blimps that would patrol the coastline in search of German U-boats.  Currently TCOM, a private airship manufacturer, uses the facility for their Ground Systems Manufacturing and Test Facility where they build blimps and airships for everything from surveillance to sporting events.

Old Naval Blimp Airdock and a TCOM airship

 Once down the Pasquotank River, we made our way across the Abelmarle Sound to the Alligator River.  This crossing can often be rough, but we managed to time it so the wind was behind us, so we made a speedy crossing with following seas.  We wanted to go today because tomorrow is rain.

Once across, we passed through the Alligator River swingbridge, and motorsailed all the way to the southern tip of the Alligator River.  With the wind out of the North, it's usually too rough to anchor right at the end of the river, so we turned the corner into the twisty approach to the Alligator-Pungo Canal and anchored off of Deep point with a number of other sailboats.  Joan thawed out a steak and I fired up the grill.

Life is good.