Sunday, November 3, 2013

Elizabeth City to Edenton, Albemarle Sound

I want to add a couple of things about Elizabeth City before I go on about our trip today.  Last night we had dinner with Dan and Kathy at the Bible University.  They were gracious hosts and they really blessed us.  They bless other cruisers too by offering free showers on the weekends, courtesy of the university and the geothermal heated water.  Look them up if you are in Elizabeth City.  They keep their boat, 'Paloma,' at the university docks and they love to talk to cruisers.  The other thing is that the Visitor's Center at E City now loans out bicycles during business hours.  They also hope to have new bathrooms and shower facilities adjacent to the docks next year, but in the meantime, the weekends are covered at the university!  Dan and Kathy were added to the list of our favorite things about E City.

As Arizona residents who never have to reset clocks, Myron and I find the time change to be quite a nuisance.  We did not 'gain' and hour because we leave at first light.  That just happened to be at 6:15 this morning instead of 7:15.  It was quiet when we slipped out, but, as forecast, the winds picked up within an hour and had us really romping by the time we turned onto the Albemarle Sound.  We double reefed the main when we made that right turn.  We headed for the western shore, dodging crab pots, restricted areas, threading the Highway 32 bridge as well as the main channel for the overhead cables.  All the while the wind was whistling in our rigging from 15 knots to well over 20 knots on our beam.  We finally had to triple reef the main to keep Hold Fast under 7 knots. 

It was a great day tarnished by a Coast Guard call that there was a man in the water on our route.  They called a tug/barge in front of us and asked them to engage in the search.  We changed our heading toward what we thought was the search area - typical for first incoming information - then found out they were searching the southwest side of the Highway 32 bridge (not southeast).  By the time we went under the bridge, the tug/barge and several small and much more maneuverable power boats were engaged in the search so we continued on our regular route.  Shortly thereafter the Coast Guard helicopter was on the scene.  We have no idea of the resolution, but hope to find out while we are in Edenton.

The City Wharf employees were very welcoming and so seems the town.  We were loaned a car to go eat or whatever we need.  We hope to walk around town and get a feel for the place and report back to you later!  Along with the loaner car, two free days in the slip, a $6 charge to cover power for those days, we were given a welcome bag to celebrate Edenton's 300th year anniversary of its founding.  So far so good!

Love to all,
Dena

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