Big Change From Yesterday

Momentary glimps of the rising sun

     Around 10 last night, the wind suddenly picked up to about 15 -20. Within moments, the rain started to fall.  The rains only lasted an hour, but the winds stayed with us, decreasing slightly during the night.

     We woke at 6 with every intention of taking Bailey to shore around 6:15 Nautical Dawn.  Unfortunately, with the storm clouds working their way east, they also blocked the light. Thus, it was closer to 7:15 when we weighed anchor.  We were the first to leave our area, but at the top of the canal, all but 3 boats had already departed.

     Following Active Captain’s report, we had no problems around the new shallows at the top of the canal.  As we traveled the clouds broke, but the winds increased back to about 20, but was blocked by trees for parts of the journey.  The most disturbing part of our travels came about 5 miles down the canal. It was a strong smell of raw sewerage stayed with us for a mile or two. 

    Since we were in a part of the world that has practically no cell phone service, we had to use text to wish Chris a Happy Birthday. Thankfully, my Samsung phone gets some service while Pete’s IPhone can’t. It drove Pete crazy. He was periodically checking the phone to see if there was service and if there was when did it raise above 1x. 

     When we passed though the Alligator Pongo Canal 6 years ago, we were  surprised to find a 10 foot tall pile of trees piled against the shore.  Pete referred to it as the Beaver Dam.  Mother Nature has been busy reclaiming it as her own.  

In 2010 Pete nicknamed this  "The Giant Beaver Dam"

In 2016 Mother Nature is reclaiming and recycling

      We were surprised to hear the Coast Guard announce the closure of the Alligator Pongo Bridge due to high winds.  We thought they only closed it when winds topped 30 mph.  Either they closed it due to lesser winds, or it was windier than we thought.

Aproaching Belhaven, NC

Time to walk the Bailey

    With the favorable current in the AP Canal, we made Belhaven by 1:30.  We discussed the possibility of heading straight to River Dunes, but it is another 35 miles, which translates to 5 hours AND heading into a strong wind.  That would bring us in after dark. Instead, we read and relaxed and will head out early tomorrow.

~ ~ ~ /) ~~  K & P