Albemarle Adventure

Edenton, NC
N 36 03.352 W 076 36.623

We're taking time to explore North Carolina waters better than before. Several people told us that Edenton at the head of Albemare Sound is a very nice place. However, it is 30 miles up the sound away from the ICW. Further, it is not just any sound but the infamous and treacherous Albemarle. Always before we scooted across the Albemarle as quickly as possible. However, this time the forecast is for four or more days with little or no wind, so the risk is low.

We just arrived here at Edenton at supper time, so we haven't seen the town yet. We did however make some new friends; Phil and Vy on a Catalina 34 at a nearby slip. They live in Columbia, across the sound from here. Chatting with them, I raised the question of Albemarle's reputation. They confirmed it. The sound is shallow, the wind comes from every direction, causing confused seas. and it can come out of nowhere and blow very hard with little warning. Many people have died out on the sound,
and even circumnavigators claim that it can have the roughest waters they've ever seen. Not this week though.

We'll stay here two nights. Tomorrow, I'll let you know what we find here.

Sit Down For a Spell

Mariner's Wharf, Elizabeth City

N 36 17.922 W 076 13.097

Tarwathie is seen out in the harbor. During our recent visit, I took this picture from the porch of the Oceanic Hotel, Gosport, Star Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire, USA.

Doesn't it make you want to sit in that rocker and while the day away?

Land Cruising

Mariner's Wharf, Elizabeth City
N 36 17.922 W 076 13.097

Last night we took advantage of a strong public WIFI courtesy of Elizabeth City. We got on youtube.com and watched the two main TV events of the year that seeminly everybody on the planet has seen except us.

First, we watched the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. Wow was that fun to watch. We were amazed at the creativity in the artistry and by the use of technology. That was surely a great show.

Second, we watched Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican convention. Wow again. She was great. We had heard before watching that the teleprompters had failed in the middle of her speech and how she just kept on without missing a beat. Even knowing that in advance the event was very hard to detect when watching.

On another subject, two of our cruising friends are Stephan and Lori from the vessel Twin Spirits. Those two have been cruising for a long longer than we have. However, they expressed a desire to cruise the rest of the country -- the part you can't get to by boat. This summer, Stephan and Lori managed to sell their boat, and to buy an RV. Right now they are up in Massachusetts fixing the RV up. We hope to see them in Vero this winter.

So what is the difference between cruising on a boat and cruising in an RV? Well, the most obvious difference is fuel costs. Depending on how many miles one drives, fuel costs for an RV could be ruinous.

The really big difference I suspect is the kind of scnery one sees. As I've said many times in this blog, the boaters get to see the thin veneer of the coastline and inland waterways of this country. Very often, the waters and the veneer look wonderful and pristine, yet just behind the veneer is a lot of ugliness. With an RV, one cruises the interior spaces -- sans the veneer. On the other hand, there us much grandeur and much open space remainng in America. If we manage to meet Stephan and Lori after they did RV cruising for a few years, I'll ask them to compare their boating and RV experiences for us. In the meantime, I just think of them as having gone over to the dark side.

One aspect of RV and boat cruising that seems alike is the competition between the right to anchor (or park) wherever we want to verus the pressure from governemnt to regulate everything. Right now, down in Florida, there is a newfound legislative assault on the right to anchor. In the RV world, I know that RVers are often forced into trailer parks or so-called camp grounds that appear to be extremely crowded and unattractive. The competing interests on both sides sound similar.

Pictures Block Island to North Carolina

Top:
Tarwathie, Tarwathie, Andre on Aruba II,

Middle:
Aruba II in the sunset, wow great sunset on Block Island, Aruba II another sunset

Bottom:
USS Mesa Verde in Norfolk (very big war ship),
Tarwathie's radar reflector upper left -another reflector lower right (look carefully at the difference)
The local church in South Mills, VA

In The Storm's Wake

Elizabeth City Visitor's Center
No LL

Well, the storm has passed. It was remarkable yesterday morning. I was listenting to the local radio news. The storm was causing havoc in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Hampton. There were accidents, flooding, downed trees, power outages and school closings. However, down where we were in the Dismal Swamp Canal everything was tranquil. It made one want to say, "What storm?" It was so still that the surface of the canal still looked like a reflecting pool even though the wind roared a hundred or so feet above our heads.

Yesterday, Libby made molasses cookies for the nice ladies up at the NC Welcome Center. They have been so friendly and so hospitible, that was the least we could do.

Last night we had a Balderdash Tournoment among the 5 boats that had holed up at the welcome center for the past three days. Everybody screamed and laughed and had a good time even though the others never heard of the game before. Balderdash really is an outstanding game.