Today is a travel day -- we would like to make it to Belhaven, the next port on the Intercoastal, but it is 53 miles or so and not really doable in a single day -- we've checked the charts and have identified a number of possible intermediate anchorages -- we'll pick one later in the day as we see how the day is going.
It had rained overnight, not heavy but steady for a couple of hours; shortly after we awoke, Jack went to go up on deck to check out the day. As he got to the companionway stairs and looked out, he saw a scene right out of a B grade horror movie -- the air was thick with mosquitoes "on the wing" and worse, there were zillions of the critters hanging on the underside of the Bimini and Dodger tops -- you could barely see the tan fabric through the hordes.
Fortunately, we had put up our "shields" the night before, so we were safe for the moment. Also, we had some Raid and Yard Guard on board for just such an eventuality. But, we had a problem -- we had to get on deck to start the engine, raise the anchor and get going -- how would we do that without getting eaten alive?
There was only one reasonable answer: send the Mosquerminator on deck to eliminate those critters -- Susie covered herself with Off, donned her shoes and full rain gear, sprang onto the deck armed with Yard Guard and Raid and started slaughtering the buggers. Similarly donned and armed, Jack followed soon thereafter. Within a few minutes, we had the anchor up and were on our way, albeit with tens of thousands of dead and dying mosquitoes littering the cockpit and topsides -- we had carried the day with few, if any bites -- it was a massive but messy victory for cruisers everywhere ;-)
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| The Mosquerminator |
The weather remained overcast and rainy for the remainder of the day -- we never saw another mosquito -- our theory was that they had sought refuge from the overnight rain on the underside of our canvas but that once we started moving, they couldn't keep up with us.
We headed down the Alligator River which, despite its name, harbors no alligators today. Eventually, we turned into a canal which connects the Alligator and the Pungo Rivers -- boringly named the Alligator-Pungo canal. Unlike the Dismal Swamp canal, this one was wide and deep -- we rarely saw less than 15 feet when motoring down the middle. We actually has some traffic here: a few northbound boats passed us and at one point, a small tug pushing a barge passed us by. The shore side was lined with low grasses and dead cedars -- we found out later that rising sea levels are causing the salinity in this part of the "inner banks" to rise, killing the cedars -- such a shame, they are beautiful trees.
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| The canal landscape -- the "spikes" are dead cedars |
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| All that's left are the stumps once the salt get to them |
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| The only boat we saw on our transit of the canal |
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| Price lowered by 70K, a real bargain -- any takers out there? |
One of the anchorages we were considering was a canal that intersected the A-P canal about halfway down its length. The cruising guide said it was a possibility, but also noted that it might be shoaled up and that the holding was so poor that some cruisers had resorted to tying themselves to trees. When we got to the place, it looked pretty uninviting -- lots of dead trees on the sides with a very narrow entrance in -- we decided to take a rain check and continue on to an anchorage in the Pungo river, 10 miles further and just beyond the canal exit.
We arrived at the anchorage around 4pm -- it was a very quiet cove on the river with no homes or other signs of civilization other than a single small bass boat with a fisherman. We had a very peaceful, bug free evening.
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