Thursday May 10, 2018 -  Alligator River North to Dismal Swamp Welcome Center

I was in a pretty isolated anchorage on the Little Alligator River last night.  But I was up at 5am for an early start. The wind had shifted overnight from NNE to SW.  The forecast was for SW around 10 till noon and then SW at 15 to 20 in the afternoon.  Sounded great for crossing the Albemarle.  I wanted to be in the Pasquotank river by noon when it was supposed to pick up.  It was a beautiful clear morning - at least for the first hour.  At 7:30am, a big fog bank rolled in from the west.  I was already past the tricky part of entering the Albemarle from the south so it was an easy decision to just keep going - in the fog.  It only lasted for about an hour and then it slowly began clearing.  I had a real nice broad reach across the Sound and into the Pasquotank. 

My plan was to spend the night at the free docks that Elizabeth City is known for.  But when I got there, I found only one slip filled (by a small trawler), docks that you had to back into, and a south wind that made docking very tricky.  I was in perfect position after my first try backing in but I wasn't able to be at the bow and the stern at the same time and as soon as I stopped, the bow got blown off into the next slip to the north.  It wasn't a pretty sight, I'm sure. I was able go get back out with no damage (almost lost my horse shoe buoy and it's rack, however).  On my second try, I was just starting to back in and noticed the draw bridge was opening for a south bound boat.  I quickly shifted into forward and was on my way through the bridge and northward to the Dismal Swamp.  I rushed but made the last (3:30pm) opening with time to spare.  When I got to the South Mills Lock opening, there was another sailboat waiting. They had passed me crossing the Albemarle (motoring all the way) and had been there for an hour. We got through the lock and then motored the additional 10, or so, miles to the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center. 

The Welcome Center is a great place.  It is very clean with really nice landscaping and bathrooms.  And, they had wifi.  Unfortunately, the wifi would not extend to the boat and soon after I arrived a big thunderstorm came through that kept me in the boat the rest of the evening.