Coinjock to the Alligator River. Yawn.

We made another short hop today.  Coinjock to Belhaven is over 80 miles away, a ten hour day for us.  Too far.  Our dogs can't hold it that long.  We elected to stop at the Alligator River Marina which was only 32 miles and make Belhaven the next day.  We left early for us, around 8:45.  The three sailboats around us at Coinjock had already left.  The morning was cool but clear and windless.   Perfect trawler weather.

This is Coinjock Marina, home of the best prime rib I've ever had.  Write that down.

The ride was interesting at first, meandering through low woods and marsh.  Even though it seemed pretty much lifeless here in January, at least it's scenery.

Pam said "Look at all the ducks around that duck blind!   That's funny.  Take a picture."

And so I did.  Look closely at the photo.  Click on it and make it larger.  I didn't notice either, not until I downloaded the photos onto the computer.

We soon came to Ablemarle Sound, a large shallow body of water.  Like Currituck Sound, it can be treacherous if the wind is strong.   It was not.

You can barely see the three sailboats who left Coinjock ahead of us in the pic below.  See, we're NOT the last boat to head south.   Well... they're ahead of us, so I guess, technically, we actually still are the last boat.

It was a dull ride.  I put Drift Away on autopilot and let it steer us to the Alligator River.  Yawn.  Even the dogs were bored.

Although I though it was fairly warm in the helm station, Ruby was shivering, so I covered her up with a blanket.   Gertie thought this was great.

She could see just a little better from the top of Ruby's head.

We finally caught up to everyone at the Alligator River Bridge.  Two sailboats called for a bridge opening and went on, while Sherry Ann and Drift Away took a right just before the bridge to the Alligator River Marina.

Sherry Ann had been here before and so we followed them in.   I tried calling the marina on the cell phone and VHF radio but go no answer.  The Alligator River Bridge operator said they were closed for the winter, but we had no choice but to go in.  There are no other marinas between here and Belhaven.  We were approaching the south wall dead slow.   This was a good thing, as we went aground.  I was able to back off and move farther out into the narrow channel for another go at a steeper angle, which worked. 

There is a gas station here which is part of the marina.  It too was closed.  But the owner lives next door and she came over to collect her dock money.

There is nothing here of interest.  The marina is next to a busy highway, the gas station/convenience store is closed for the winter, and there's nothing to see or do. The weather forecast for today isn't good with winds 20 to 25 late in the morning.  We have about a one hour run to the end of the Alligator River, which is exposed, to make it to the protection of the canal.   If the wind holds off, we're out of here.  Otherwise, we're stuck here for a few days.