C-Pearl (aka SeaJamm): OUT OF THE SWAMP

April 17

Alligator Marina

Had a long day dodging black crab pots. Vietnamese say if you paint them black, they will bring good luck. If that was true, somebody gathered lots of crabs. Would show you a picture, but that's the thing. It's hard to see them in real life.

Stayed here at Alligator River Marina for the night. Marina was behind a convenience store where Annette, the chef, cooked and served good, hot fried chicken. She was there again the next morning cooking homemade biscuits and all the extras to go with it including grits.

Our home for the night. See the marina in the background.

TCOM outside Elizabeth City NC
A 300,000 square foot high security metal structure that houses blimps with names such as Monster, Sanyo and Fuji Films.

April 18 & 19

Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River

Our cruise was short and we were able to dock at the free Mid-Atlantic Christian University in Elizabeth City. Dan Smith and his wife Kathy were the most gracious hosts. She is a student and an English teacher and Dan was the enrollment director. They also have a nonprofit ministry called Kingsfleet, Christian individuals and ministries who are passionate about Jesus and using their sail or powerboat for service to Christ's Kingdom.

Dan & Kathy. Happy smiles. Full of Yogurt.

We explored Elizabeth City for two days. It is small, but it the home of the very large Museum of the Albemarle and it boast to be the Harbor of Hospitality. I believe it!

This is common in North Carolina, home of PEPSI.
Photo taken in Morehead City.

So, this sign made us feel back at home in Georgia.

April 20 & 21^st

Dismal Swamp

We saw so many nesting eagles. The dad would stand guard.

As our boat would get closer, the mom would fly from her nest in a frenzy. I'm sure she wanted to chase us away. In this picture, she is seen flying back to her nest. You see the dad perched up in the left corner.

South Mills lock was the first lock we tackled on this leg of the trip. It raised about 8 feet. This particular lock had lots of dead leaves and debris. Consequently, Alex, a sailboat solo traveling north with us experienced engine heating up because of dirty strainers. We were able to tow him to the welcome center where he was able to clean them out making his engine happy once again.

After the 1st lock the passage way turns into what we call a "ditch". It gets narrow making passing another boat coming from the other direction, a slow process because there are sunken logs along the edges of the trees.

We stayed on the wooden path because the swamp bed is covered with black water.

We tied up on the 150' face dock. Another looper boat came along later and rafted up with us for the night, which is common because there aren't many choices to secure for the night unless you attempt the whole leg in one day.

The welcome center offered miles and miles of hiking trails that meandered through parts of the swamp. There are alligators, bears, beavers and many other creatures we learned about in its museum, but we didn't see anything except a swimming rabbit.

I enjoy watching the birds skip over the water, kind of like skipping stones.

WELCOME TO VIRGINIA

The next morning we maneuvered through Deep Creek Lock a much cleaner lock. There Robert, the lock master, helped us by securing our lines. When we were lowered about 8 feet, he treated us with a conch concert and demonstration before we exited single file. I sure like this boating life.

Robert, the lock master.

Boys on a Saturday afternoon.

Eagles aren't the only birds nesting. These two geese were at the Great Bridge lock. The captain had to be careful where we positioned ourselves, because the male has attacked boaters.