Albemarle Loop

It's the fall of the year and it's time to take to the water. North Carolina is a boater's paradise. We have many great places to see from the water.  It is my intention to see them all. I may have mentioned that I recently bought a trawler that I found in Charleston, SC. Over the past few weeks, I have been preparing the boat for this exploration of the eastern NC coast. 

For those that don't know, a trawler is a boat designed for economical water travel. They are able to cover long distances in relative comfort. Think of a trawler as a motor home on the water. Although they are slow, they are still faster than your typical sailboats. We cruise our boat about 8 to 9 miles per hour. Top speed is around 14 miles per hour. 

Our first North Carolina voyage is to the Albemarle Sound. You may ask why the Albemarle Sound. The answer is that the Albemarle Sound has lots of interesting things to see. There is Edenton, Hertford, Columbia, Plymouth, Elizabeth City and Manteo. Lots of history. The other reason I chose the Albamarle is because there is a thing called the Albemarle Loop. It is a way to promote the region by offering free marina use for boater's who visit the region. 

It's about 140 miles from our base in Pine Knoll Shores to the Albemarle Sound. That's a two day trip for a trawler.  For the first leg of our planned 12 day trip, we left Pine Knoll Shores at 7:30 Monday morning. We arrived in Belhaven at 4:30 pm. A total of 70 miles and 9 hours. Following are a few photos taken along the way. 

You see a lot of this along the way. This is the Intracoastal Waterway heading from Morehead City to the Neuse River. You got to like nature. 

Spoon River Resturant in Belhaven. A little bit up scale for a country boy, but a good place to eat. Also it was the only restuarant open on Monday night. 

Belhaven is a beautiful little town of about 1500 people. This is a picture of the River Forest Manor event center about four blocks from downtown Belhaven. The marina we are staying in is directly behind the manor. 

That's the back of the manor house on the left and the marina office on the right. 

We departed Belhaven at day break on Tuesday. We arrived at our destination of Columbia, NC at 5:45 pm. That is a lot of boat riding. It would not have been so bad if the scenery had been better. The trip from Belhaven takes you up the Pungo River to the Pungo-Alligator River canal. Probably the most uninteresting 55 miles I have ever seen. Nothing but marshes and swamps the whole way. 

That's a view of the sun rising over the Pungo River as we departed Belhaven. 

Even the color of the water in the canal was ugly. Definitely brown not blue. 

This is a view of the Alligator River swing bridge as we approached. This was probably the highlight of the day. Not very exciting. 

The only things redeeming about the whole day was that the weather and the water were great. A 50% chance of rain was in the forecast, but we didn't get a drop. The sky was overcast which made for a comfortable ride.  There was just enough breeze to keep us cool, but not enough to make the water rough.  I just wish that the scenery had been better. 

Overcast skys late in the day as we approached Columbia.  

This posting pretty much covers the first two days of the trip. Becky and I will probably stay in Columbia on the boat for two nights before going elsewhere. We have friends that will be joining us on Saturday for the rest of the trip. More postings to come.