I'm posting today from the city dock of Elizabeth City, NC. We got here early Wednesday afternoon. It's a pretty place with a small park next to the piers. We walked around the old downtown area Wednesday afternoon and, after a much needed "real" shower, walked to a restaurant for dinner. Yesterday and today were stay-put days. Randy did some little jobs here on the boat (we took off with a to-do list for on the way) and I walked about 6 blocks to a laundromat. I only had one large load to do, but the lady on the boat in the slip next to us said there's not much available for the next several days when heading north. She also said about the laundromat, "The place is dirty, but the water is clean." :) And she was right. Nice people working there, though. Yesterday afternoon we went to the Museum of the Albemarle. It's housed in a large new building close to the waterfront and was very well done. Well worth a couple of hours. This morning our neighboring boat captain, Dick Mills, spent over an hour with Randy, giving him advice and tips about what to see and where to stay heading north. He and his wife, Libby, were very nice and very helpful to us.
   Now I'm going to backtrack a week or so. Over Memorial Day weekend our son, Craig, and his family came to Tennessee to see us before we left. We had a great visit but, as always, it was just too short. On Tuesday, May 27, we said goodbye to our daughter, Rachel, and her family and headed out for Oriental, NC. Our good friends, Stanley and Juanita Swartzel, went with us so they could take our car back home. We spent Wednesday sailing with them on the Neuse River and the weather and the company were both great. Then the next morning, another goodbye (ugh, it's hard) and they left for home.

   The next few days were spent with final projects and preparations. Friends at the yacht club were nice enough to run us in town (about 3 miles) or loan us a car when we needed one more part or forgotten item. They also threw a bon voyage party for us on Friday evening, then threatened to cut our dock lines when we didn't leave for two more days. :) A special thank you to Robert and Susan for their encouragement and help, for Bob and Robin for quick canvas work for us (it looks great!), to dock masters Lisa and Paul, and to everyone else there that gave such a beautiful welcome to these "newbies". Sea Harbour Yacht Club is a first rate facility with first rate people.

Sunset at Sea Harbour Yacht Club. Taken from the stern of our boat.

Sea Harbour Yacht Club

   On Monday morning, June 2, we coiled our dock lines and "sailed off". Well, actually, the wind was not good, so we motored. A lot of this Great Loop trip will be motoring because the intercostal waterway follows a lot of creeks and rivers where there isn't really room to sail. We headed out of the Neuse River, then into Bay River and into Gale Creek and Goose Creek. Coming from out west, as we did, a creek is sometimes a trickle of water you can jump over. Out here they can be a mile wide. At the Pamlico River we were able to put the sails up and be a sailboat. We sailed up the Pungo River a ways before losing our breeze, and turned into Pungo Creek to anchor for the night.

A cormorant dries his wings on a channel marker in the Pungo River.

The Pungo River and the best seat in the house.

   On Tuesday we continued up the Pungo River and then into the man-made Pungo-Alligator Canal. It connects the Pungo with the Alligator River and crosses a swampy area for 18 miles. I enjoyed it for the first hour (understand that we motor at about 6 mph), then told Randy I wouldn't want to do it for 2 days. :) It was pretty but just straight and a lot of the same scenery. I think he enjoyed it more. We anchored that evening at the beginning of Alligator River. After dinner we took a "cruiser's bath" off the swim platform of the boat. The water was chilly but not bad. Later we got to wondering why it's called the "Alligator" River! Maybe because there are alligators? :) Still don't know.

Our wake in the Pungo-Alligator Canal. In the distance is one of 2 bridges you go under on the canal.

A doe and her fawn on the bank of the canal.

Anchored for the night at the head of the Alligator River.

   Wednesday morning we got underway about 6:30 because we had heard that the Alligator River and Albemarle Sound, that it empies into, can be pretty rough water. We wanted to leave ourselves plenty of time to make it to Elizabeth City. Well, we hit a very benign day! We put out the sails shortly after taking off and sailed down the Alligator River, across Albemarle Sound, and up the Pasquotank River almost to Elizabeth City. Beautiful!! The only worry we had was dodging crab pots all the way across the sound and half way up the Pasquotank. But we didn't tangle in one, so all is well. We arrived at the pier and our dock lines were caught by the "welcome committee", the Rose Buddies. Since the 1980's there have been various local retired men that meet and welcome boaters to their city. They used to bring a rose to every boat docking here. They were very nice and helpful.

A memorial to the two original "Rose Buddies".

The free city docks. We stayed here three nights and enjoyed the city.

   And this is where I came in with this posting. We're heading north again tomorrow and into the Dismal Swamp Canal. We've heard it really isn't dismal. More on that next time. Keep your sails trimmed.

    In February of last year Randy and I took an American Sailing Association class to learn to sail. It was a week long class in St. Petersburg, FL and included a coastal sail of 3 days and nights from Miami around through the Keyes to St. Petersburg. We really enjoyed it and decided we'd buy a sailboat. This was not as easy as we expected. We did a lot of computer searching and trips to see boats from Atlanta, GA to Green Turtle Bay, KY and on the east coast from northern NC to FL. We finally found the boat for us in Oriental, NC. She's a 32 foot Beneteau Oceanis 321.

Up on stands to get the bottom cleaned and repainted

   
    After the official inspection, we had her hauled out of the water and the bottom cleaned and repainted. Sailcraft Boatyard got us in quickly and did a great job. Alan and his crew were all welcoming to these "novices" and easy to work with.

She goes back into the water

 
    We've owned several power boats, but a sailboat is a different animal. The previous owner, Roger Quillan, was nice enough to drive 2 1/2 hours to help us bring the boat back around to the slip that we're renting from him and give us a lot of history on the boat.We renamed the boat, and the "Aleta Jewel" now is docked at the Sea Harbour Yacht Club just outside of Oriental, NC. The name is both of our mothers' first names.

    In the last 8 months we have driven from our home in eastern TN to Oriental just about every month to stay a week or two and make improvements and repairs on Aleta Jewel, and to just start making it our home. Some of those trips were not so much fun since we had such a cold winter. We bought a Portland Pudgy dinghy (actually we found it before we found the sailboat) and Randy installed the hardware to mount it on the back of the sailboat. We had new navigation electronics installed and numerous other jobs that we're finding is just part of having a sailboat.

The galley

Aft berth (our bedroom) and closed door is the head

Our "dining/living room"

    Our plan now is to leave the end of May to follow the Great Loop route. We'll head north and continue up the Intercoastal Waterway to the Erie Canal then through the Great Lakes. At Chicago we'll head down the Illinois River to the mighty Mississippi River then to the Ohio River. From there we'll travel down the Tennessee River to the Tombigbee Waterway to Mobile, AL. Then across the gulf of Mexico to the west coast of Florida and around through the Keyes to the east coast again. We plan on wintering in Florida next year! We will probably be gone for a year to a year and a half with trips home every now and then. Thankfully we have good housesitters.

    We're really looking forward to setting sail! Our good friends, Stanley and Juanita Swartzel, are going with us on our final trip to Oriental and they will bring our car back home. Once we're on our way, I'll start trying to post every week.