July 28 - Alligator-Pungo Canal, Columbia NC

Wednesday, July 28 – Columbia, NC

Today was our longest day on the water – we covered 60 miles, and arrived at the Alligator Creek Marina, mm 84. (Norfolk VA is mile 1 on the ICW, so we are DEFINITELY IN THE HOME STRETCH!). When we left the anchorage at 8am, we didn’t think that we’d make it this far today, but we averaged over 6knots so what should have been a 12-hr run ended up being 8.5 hrs. Not too shabby! Plus, we finally caught up with Greg and Janice (s/v Glenice) who left Brunswick ahead of us and we’ve been tailing them ever since! It will be nice to have company for dinner tonite.

This was one of our favorite days on the ICW. We spent 5 hours on the Alligator-Pungo River Canal, which was spectacular. It’s a long, straight canal that passes through pristine forests. Another place that reminds us of the BWCA.

People who routinely cruise the ICW told us the scenery was so much better than offishore.

I'm a believer!

Looking forward from cockpit.

Looking aft from cockpit.

Gotta love a wateway with posted mileage signs.

You must stay in the center of the canal or run aground!  This was us yesterday. Gotta love BoatTowUS!

The canal then opened up to the Alligator River where we were able to raise our head-sail and do some motor sailing for the remainder of the trip. A south wind was off our stern so we surfed along on the swells (instead of bashing into them head-on!).

This marina marked our first experience in tying up to a fixed pier. (Due to the high tides in the south, all the marinas have floating piers , so the dock is always a boat height). With a fixed pier, you basically have to lasso the piling at four points and tie the lines back on to the boat. Quite comical to try and try and try again to throw the boat line over the tall piling, only to have it land in the water each time. Something I’ll need to practice b/c fixed piers are the norm in northern coastal waters.