Wrightsville to Edenton

Monday morning I was up bright and early having slept like a log. Young Shannon shared dinner with me at the Texas Road House in Wilmington and dropped me off back at Luna. I do enjoy her company especially when she gets to jabbering....which means you do a lot nodding yes....and shaking your no's....as there is no way to get a word in edgewise when she gets into topics like Peruvian Mummies and clay shards found at Fort Fisher.

The trip outside went great with a light wind and following sea. I saw a few Porpoises, one school of Bonita looking fish tearing up the water. Alas, I did not have my trolling rigs in the water or I might just have had some fresh fish for dinner.

I made better time than I thought and ran all the way to Cedar Creek off of Adams Creek (The ICW) just south of the Neuse River. It was a very long day! Originally I was going to spend the night in Cape Lookout Bight but the weather report called for the Cold Front to get here a day earlier than planned.

The run up the Neuse, Bay, and Alligator Rivers went fine. I anchored just outside the end of the canal with two other boats but they were so far away it was like being all by yourself. I awoke to some dense fog but was out of it in just a few minutes then the wind picked up and the road got all lumpy for a bit. Don't let anyone fool you.....there are not a million crab pots in the Alligator River and Albemarle Sound.....there is at least twice that many.

I wonder why I never see flash orange, yellow, pink, or green floats on the crab pots. Whoever the dullard is that decided to use Black floats needs his hind end kicked!

As I pulled into Edenton I discovered my fancy dancy Raymarine Electronic map does not cover that part of the water. Gad Zukes....it was paper map and radar for navigation. Being the wizard I am....I found the Edenton Marina and discovered the wind was blowing directly off the Tee Dock. Being a single hand sailor, that presented a bit of a pickle. How does one approach the dock and pickup a stern and bow line before getting blown off the dock. I did know better than to get off the boat before getting the lines attached to the pilings.

Scotty Harrell, the owner of the Marina, came down to welcome me and found himself being a dockhand for the afternoon. He is quite the gentleman and I look forward to getting to know him. Perhaps I might reconsider this Tee Dock and take up a standard slip further into the Marina.

So....the first trip of the season went off without a hitch assuming one discounts dragging anchor and cruising the anchorage, breaking a toe, catching no fish, and running aground in Adams Creek (got off with a judicious bit of sail), and spending two hours getting tied up to the dock in Edenton. Amazingly, I only had to make two passes at the dock before getting a line around a piling. Then the Tug of War started!

Now for some well deserved dinner!