14. Along the ICW

So far we have gone along the Elizabeth River to the North Landing River and through Currituck Sound and Coinjock Bay to the North River to the Pasquotank River which, in turn, enters Albemarle Sound. Albemarle Sound is very shallow and even a small wind will whip up the waves. Ours was a fairly turbulent passage. It was very windy and we were worried as the Alligator Swinging Bridge would not open if the winds were over 35 knots. We were very relieved when we radioed the bridge master and he said he was still opening “at this time”. We were lucky as later on in the day we heard that the bridge was closed due to high winds. From Albemarle Sound we entered the Alligator River which led to the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal.


One thing that you see when you travel slowly by boat is the forces of nature and the impact that man has had on the natural environment. On one side of the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal was lush with vegetation and trees and the other was barren and stark due to a fire which had swept through a few years back. You could see many uprooted trees lying along the banks of the canal. The root systems are very shallow and the wakes from the large boats that speed by at 20-30 knots hit the banks and then rebound eroding the fragile root systems and the trees topple over. Many of the trees look like they are just about to fall. We wondered why there was no speed limit posted. With the current low levels it seems the impact of the speeding cruisers is just magnified. What a waste!






The canal entered the Pungo River which led directly to Belhaven where we did our laundry. Chad and LeeAnn with whom were travelling told us about Oriental which is the “sailing capital” of North Carolina and we determined that Oriental would be our next stop.

I am going to outline our route in detail for Alex, Christopher, Alexandra, Julia and Andrea who may want to look it up.

The Pungo River runs into the Pamlico River which is a large expanse like the Albemarle Sound. Conflicting currents meet at the junction or the Pungo and Pamlico Rivers. When the winds are easterly or westerly strong gusts, the crossing can be rough and wet. Fortunately it was a smooth ride for us, but not enough wind for us to sail for any length of time. We went through to Goose Creek into the Intercoastal Canal to Bay River which enters the Neuse River. The 18 mile run over the Neuse River went smoothly and all went well until we entered Oriental.

See the wake hitting the banks of the river and the difference from one side of the river to the other. Fortunatelt the right side is starting to grow back particularly along the river but it is much more sparse inland and it takes many many years to regrow.