Return to Alligator River
Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Sun 20 Nov 2011 16:59
35:54.9N 75:57.689W
Sunday 20th November 2011
Distance run: 70 statute miles
We had slipped the lines by 0550 yesterday morning
and were waiting for Great Bridge bridge to open at 0600 in order to start on
our 70 statute mile trip to the Alligator River. It was still dark
and the temperature had dropped overnight from 1 degree when we went to bed
to -1.5 degrees. Everything was covered in frost and the decks were
treacherously icy. Moving about to slip the lines was
precarious indeed. We were both wearing four layers of winter
clothing and grateful we had allowed them to take up our limited locker
space throughout the long hot days we can barely remember right now!
A thick layer of frost on the barbecue and
solar panels...
and
the dinghy, and thick mist over the water.
The lack of daylight wasn't too much of a problem
as there were streetlights and bridge lights until after the bridge, but then we
were dependent on our night vision. This was fine for a mile or so, but
then a very bright light ahead blinded us and appeared to be coming
closer. Eventually we were able to make out some very small and dim red
and green navigation lights low down and not too far away from us, and we
realised it was a tug pushing a a very wide barge towards us. We
began to move to the side of the canal, and lit up the bank with the aldis
lamp to see how far we could go. Not far, was the conclusion, as there
were many obstructions sticking up out of the water, so we moved over as
far as we could and held our breath. The barge started to pass within a
couple of metres of our port side, and turned to starboard only when the middle
of the barge was level with our beam. We're not sure if he hadn't seen us
until then or whether the width of the canal allowed him to move over at this
point. What we do know is that we were greatly relieved that he did
so!
Very soon the sun rose and we had light, but
visibility was very poor with mist/fog hanging low over the water.
Eventually as the sun rose higher it began to burn off, and by mid-morning we
could actually see where we were going.
The mist/fog eventually began to thin as the
sun burnt it off.
We made good time to our first possible stop at
mile 57, and decided we would carry on to the next anchorage just before the
Alligator River Bridge at Mile 82. The ICW is marked in statute miles
rather than nautical, and as we were travelling at just over 6 knots, or 7 mph,
we felt we had enough time to cross the Albermarle Sound before dark. We
arrived at the anchorage around 1630, as the light was just beginning to
fade. We were soon safely hanging on the hook, in time to enjoy another
beautiful sunset.
The sun setting over the Alligator
River.