Sunday, May 2, 2021.
Sunny, Temp: 81/53, Humidity: 82/39%, Top Wind: SW15, Precip: none, Miles Traveled: 50
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The wake-up alarm for our early morning escape was set for 6:00. I was wide awake at 5:30, got up and was dressed before the sunshine. As crazy as that is, I was blessed with a beautiful sunrise. The colors were so pretty! I think it’s wonderful how our Creator can make this brown water look a beautiful purple at sunrise. 😊
As the sun stretched it’s arms to get out of bed, all the purple went away, so it was time to get the Captain up.
It was an easy get-away, since we were pointed right straight out the channel. Just pull the lines, and tootle straight on out!
We had some free-loaders hitch a ride with us. We accumulated some midges – those skeeter looking bugs (that thankfully don’t bite) like we were swarmed with in Fort Myers Florida. At least we didn’t have millions of them this time!
We were only in the Pungo River for about five miles, then we entered the Alligator-Pungo canal. It’s a man-made ditch to connect these inland bodies of water.
And this is how things looked for a good portion of the morning. I usually sit in a fold up chair, and today I had it turned sideways so that I could keep an eye on the rear view and know who was coming up behind us. The deep channel in the canal isn’t very wide in some places, so we wanted to know if anybody was coming before they arrived knocking on our back door.
In some places the scenery was so pretty in the early morning light. The water was splat flat calm, and the colors were brilliant.
And of course, the water looks like coffee. The dockhand at the marina said that he swims in the water. WHAT?! I guess if you grow up here, it isn’t weird? 🤷♀️. Not this girl!
There were some places where the stumps along the edge of the waterway crept out towards the channel, and made you sure you didn’t want to pass anybody.
Speaking of passing….. we kept hearing calls on the radio for Island Girl, and it didn’t make sense when no other boats were around us, and then somebody else would respond. Huh? 🤔. We finally found her…. a tow pushing a barge in the same direction as us. She was only going about 3.5mph. So we called her: “East bound tow Island Girl, this is Motor Vessel Island Girl behind you. We’d like to get around you when it is safe to do so.” Awkward – two Island Girls doing the cha-cha on the Alligator-Pungo! We had to wait until we were both past this bridge, then we could go around.
And there is it… Island Girl.
As we came out of the canal, the Alligator River opens up into a wider body of water, and we spied several duck blinds.
The canal was about 22 miles long, and then the Alligator River (which is more like a big bay) was about 23 miles long. There is a 14’ high swing bridge that opens on demand at the north end. We heard a couple of boats talking with the bridge tender, and we saw the bridge open when we were still several miles out. He told the approaching boats to slow down, that he needed to close and clear the road traffic, then he’d open again. We wanted to make sure we made the next opening as soon as the traffic cleared, so we put the pedal to the metal and zoomed for a few miles to get there.
This is a very busy road, especially on Sunday. It is one of the only roads that goes out to the outer banks, so there were a lot of travel trailers and RVs coming back across to the mainland.
We didn’t even have to wait. By the time we got there and slowed down, we just puttered closer and pretty soon the bridge was opening and several boats went through. Whew! We didn’t want to have to sit around and tread water waiting for the next opportunity.
Right beyond the bridge is a 90 degree turn to the left to go into the Alligator River Marina. We turned and then we were sideways to the waves that have been behind us all day. Fortunately none of the other boats were going our way, so we wouldn’t have to compete with them to get settled in the marina. Dodging crabpots, rockin and rollin, we made it in. The water looked nice and calm inside, but the wind thinks Island Girl is a sailboat with a sail up, so captain had to try three times to get us backed into our spot. Thank goodness he knows when to abort and do over, and to try different things. We really wanted to dock stern in because the docks are only about 20 feet long. We were glad that one of the gals from the gas station/marina came to help catch a line and get it tied off to help get us in. Whew!
Here is looking back out at the loooong bridge.
And looking in at the marina. It is kind of a funny place. It is a gas station for the highway that goes out to the outer banks, and it is the only marina for at least 25 miles in ANY direction!
We got here at noon, so sometime in the mid-afternoon we walked around to the gas station building. They have a grill in there that makes good hamburgers and stuff. Kenny has been looking forward to the burger here, so we ordered up and took them back to the boat for an early dinner.
This lighthouse is just a symbol for the outer banks, as this is the entry point. Last week was ‘bike week’ out there, so a zillion bikes make the trek out for a big party week. We were here for it in 2018, and there were hundreds of loud motorcycles roaring by! It’s much quieter this time!
We checked the weather again, and made a plan for tomorrow. We will be exploring Albemarle Sound for the next week or so which will be new territory for us. The marinas in various towns offer 2 nights dockage for free to encourage boats to do the “Albemarle Loop”. I originally had us going to Columbia for one night, but I changed my mind. They do not take reservations, there is only one dock that will fit a boat our size, and it is a tiny town. At this point we won’t want to be out on the Sound for a couple of days due to weather, and we don’t want to be stuck there. So – we’re going all the way west to Edenton, which is a place that we want to spend 2 or 3 days anyway. The weather is supposed to be good in the morning, so we’ll get up early-schmirly again and beat feet there. It will be an adventure!
Hello Island Girl, We have a Bayliner 3988 and noticed your back end has a deck extension. Can you share some photo’s of your boat. We want to add this to ours. Did you added it? Any suggestions or improvements?
Hi Barry- Yes, we put that back hardtop on in 2017. We ordered it from a place in LaConner, WA, but I believe the fellow retired and I don’t know that he passed the molds and business on to anyone. He himself had a 3988 docked at his place along the LaConner channel, with this kind of hardtop in the back as well as one on the flybridge, which was really nice. Wish we would have got both!