We are bumping our way across Albemarle Sound right now. It looks like a good enough day, sunny with light winds and the temperature increasing by five degrees every hour, according to the weather report. But the water of the Albemarle is far from flat. It has the reputation of being the roughest inland water in the entire ICW. According to one of our guidebooks, four foot waves here are nothing like four foot swells in the ocean. They don't spread out like the 10 second ocean swells, but just get steeper and steeper due to the shallow depth. Today's 1 1/2 foot waves are a gift and we're sailing at about 5 1/2 knots.
The temperature still has a way to go-we woke up to 46 degrees, inside not out. We've slept warm enough with an electric blanket and sleeping bag, but taking showers is another story. Last Friday on the drive down to the Dismal Swamp Canal lock,where Lee left the boat, we went from snow flurries and 29 degrees in Ithaca to only 50 degrees and dropping at Norfolk.
The talk among boaters centered on how we're all staying warm, sounds like lots of baking going on. We've even had the empty oven on, basking in front of the open door. We're wearing lots of layers and I was very glad to replace the gloves I left behind in NY. Of the three routes south from Norfolk we always take the Dismal Swamp rather than Currituck sound or the ocean around the Outer Banks, much more of a sure thing...and it exits at Elizabeth City, a must see. The canal opened in 1805 and helped George Washington get his lumber to market. It doesn't appear to have changed since then, much shallower and narrower than the Erie Canal. Like most boats we bumped bottom and had the depth sounder pinging the seven foot warning quite a lot. We left the northern lock with four other boats after a morning walk and bake sale and arrived at the visitor center dock before dark. This rest stop is shared with the adjacent route 17 traffic, I doubt they appreciated the heated bathrooms as much as we did.
Elizabeth City is known as the "Hah-buh" of Hospitality, I can only hear it the way Fred Fearing said it in his daily greeting at the wine and cheese party. He was an octogenarian who, after his wife's death years ago, decided to take his bottle of wine down to share with the visiting boaters. This started a tradition that his Rose Buddies are still carrying on two years after his death, complete with a rose for all the ladies. It was held yesterday at the heated visitor center to a capacity crowd. No one wants to leave free docks with plenty of heated places to visit in a very lively little town. We enjoyed it all, coffee at the Colonial, brunch at a new place, a fish fry for $8, a free museum, gloves purchased at a dollar store, a library book sale. Some day we'll get to the dinner theater, but not to see the currently playing ""Where the Wild Things Are".
So now we're headed a few days down the way and a right turned detour off the ICW to a festival in Washington NC next Saturday. There was mention of 80 degrees later in the week so our plan to stay ahead of the cold still might come true.