“35:56.438N 75:55.851W”

We woke early and by 7am Claire had hauled in a very muddy chain and anchor and we were underway from Belhaven.  It was barely 6C and the flat grey dawn suggested we would not be seeing the sun today but lots of rain instead.  This part of the trip involved transiting the Pungo River – Alligator River Canal, 25 miles of boring straight line with one 20 degree bend in the middle.  Over the years the canal’s banks have been eroded by ships wash and several hurricanes.  

Midway in the canal we meet an enormous three storey high tug pushing a barge the size of a block of flats.  We both slowed down to a crawl and I manoeuvred Moonstone close to the bank as we levelled with the barge.........bang!........Moonstone’s bow rose into the air as we rode up a submerged tree stump.   I increased power to try and ride over it but we stuck.......I slammed the prop into astern and the tug’s wash and undertow helped us drag off into deep water.    Well we are not sinking, nothing obvious is broken so we will keep going and keep our fingers crossed that all is alright until we haul Moonstone out of the water when we arrive in the Chesapeake.

The Alligator River was very choppy and after a short hold up at the Alligator River Swing Bridge we decided to call it a day and tonight we are anchored just to the west of Durant Island close to a cypress swamp.......fortunately it’s too cold for mosquitos.