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Swing Bridge on the Alligator River

We left the Alligator River Marina as soon as it was daylight this morning because we wanted to make it to Belhaven, N.C. today.  The sun was rising as the moon was setting and it was absolutely beautiful.  The picture below does not do it  justice.
 
 
As soon as we left the marina and got out into the middle of the river, we had a swing bridge to go through. We didn’t know what to expect since we’d never been through one. A section of the bridge pivots 90 degrees, staying horizontal to the water. When it is open it allows two lanes of water traffic to pass by with the pivoted bridge section in the middle of the lanes. It was very interesting. As I said before, I didn’t know there were so many different types of bridges to accommodate water traffic.  From the Alligator River, we went onto the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal which connected us to the Pungo River (makes sense, doesn’t it???) The canal was wider than the Dismal Swamp Canal, but the cruising guide recommended boaters stay in the center of the channel because of tree stumps hidden under the water. I didn’t read any history on this canal. The cruising guide mentioned occasionally boaters have seen black bears swimming across the canal. Gary and I were diligently looking for bears swimming in the water and once I thought I saw one at the shore, only to realize it was an old rusted barrel. Dang!

The Pungo River was our route to Belhaven. With the wind at our stern (the back of the boat) we had an easy 50 mile journey to our destination. We motored since the wind was light; but even though we were motoring, the wind increased our speed by helping push us along.

We are presently tied to a dock at a marina, awaiting more rain that is to come sometime after midnight. We have shore power (electricity) so we have heat and plenty of hot water-things we take for granted in a home. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain all day so we plan on staying here two nights. We will check out the town of Belhaven tomorrow. The marina has golf carts we can borrow to ride around the town. How quaint is that? It sounds like fun to me, riding around in a golf cart in the rain. Just thinking about it reminds me of the time my dad and I were playing golf and got caught in a rain storm-good memory actually.

Gary is checking the navigational charts to plan our next day’s journey. That’s the captain’s job you know. Galley slave had the night off and got to have dinner at the restaurant here at the marina. The stuffed flounder with crabmeat was excellent….

Sunrise as the Moon sets - breathtaking

Sunrise as the Moon sets - breathtaking

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