Alligator River & Albermarle Sound

I put my lifejacket on while on the Albermarle! 
Not sure why I’m smiling??!
Albermarle Sound
Albermarle Sound
Alligator River
Alligator River
             Leaving Alligator River into Albermarle Sound.
           Luckily we didn’t have far to go on the Albermarle.

 On April 24, we left Bellhaven, NC and headed to the Alligator River.  We crossed the Pungo River and entered the Pungo/Alligator Canal (ICW).  Initially, it seemed we were gonna have a good travel day - flat, calm water.  The canal was small and reminded us of the rivers back home - peaceful.  But the Alligator River opened up to a big body of water and boy oh boy, it got rough!  It was a lot of chop and we were slapping the water - not fun.  The wind had picked up and the current was strong.  The only thing good about this travel day, was that the wind was hitting us in the bow for the majority of the trip.  Finally, we headed into Alligator River Marina to tuck in for the night. Docking there wasn’t easy either.  There was nobody there to catch lines (our boat is small so we can manage), but the wind was terrible.  We spent the rest of our day, catching lines for fellow loopers, as they came into the marina. The marina wasn’t much, but had showers, a room to hang out in - and was the only place in town.  Later in the evening, we all enjoyed, much needed, docktails.  

The following day, we woke up early to check the weather/wind. To me, it seemed like the day before - very blustery even at 5am. I thought we would go lay back down and wait until tomorrow, hoping for better weather. Jeff said, “We should go.”  So, that’s what we did.  We were going into the Albermarle Sound. I had heard from other loopers about the Albemarle Sound - and it wasn’t good.  And just when I thought the Alligator River was the worst experience, we hit the Albemarle. Holy moly, roly poly.  I would much rather slap across the water than swirl around in it.  This was by far the worst.  At the beginning, we thought about turning around, but we really didn’t have far to go (thank goodness), so we powered through and of course we made it!  


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