The Alligator River to Belhaven NC

Navigating the Alligator River/Pungo River Canal.

Scouting the banks for alligators...

Creepy birds.

We finally got our flag up:)

Yesterday started off super chill.  We were motoring down the canal, taking our time.  Our boat's not the fastest so periodically a faster boat would come up behind and we'd give them the wave to pass, or they would radio us to let us know they were passing.  All very friendly.  Then we notice this huge power boat behind us and he's flying.  He gives us 3 sharp honks, which fair enough, that is a signal to say he's about to pass, but seriously, who likes being honked at?  It's like, yeah, okay buddy, we see ya.  Then he doesn't even slow down to pass, but blows by us at mock speed, I thought the boat was actually going to tip over.  After a few choice words and a quick radio to let him know how much we appreciated the wake, I went down below to check the damage.  We were waked so hard the mirror in the bathroom fell and smashed on the floor, not to mention the whole boat was pretty much turned upside down.  Whatever.  People like that are few and far between.

Anyways, when we got to the end of the canal it opened up into the Pungo River and we were able to take the sail out, shut off the engine and sail the rest of the way to Belhaven.  When we pulled in the wind started to really pick up, we had been about to anchor but there was so little protection we opted for the free town dock.  Just as we were entering the slip we felt a sickening thud and realized quickly we had hit bottom.  We were stuck in the mud.  It took us a good 5 minutes to get off.  We decided to get out of Belhaven and anchor about a mile south up the Pungo Creek, which seemed to offer more protection, but we needed fuel first.  As we were making our way to the fuel dock it started pouring rain and the wind started to howl,  making docking near impossible.  On our second try we lost our reverse function, the cable detached.  On our third try, 2 guys came over to lend some assistance and we finally got her docked.  We started to fuel up only to have the fuel keep foaming out of the fill pipe.  Discovered afterwards our fuel vent hose was kinked.  Very good.  All of this happening while it's pissing rain and the wind's so loud you can't even hear yourself think.  So we filled our jerry can and hurried to get the eff out of Belhaven.

We set anchor up the Pungo Creek.  It poured all night and the winds were so heavy at times I wasn't sure if our anchor would hold.  But she did.  The weather is ridiculous today so we are going to hide out here for the day and try to take off tomorrow for Oriental NC.

-Chels