We left Manteo to catch any early morning calm so we could to cross the Albemarle Sound. As soon as we lost the cover of land the seas built and we had one of “those boating days” that you talk about after you get safely home.
Except for a few larger wave sets the going was ok except for the crab pots. Most of our experience dodging and barrel rolling around pots has been on quieter days. So it was a steep short wave / chop that came in sections, for a few minutes it was not bad and the autopilot could handle it, then a big set would hit and you would have to manually steer for a while.
For Brian; as the motor purred along, thoughts of how the rolling was dislodging junk in the fuel, causing the need to stop and change filters while puking in the middle of this mini ocean OR we run over a pot and have to stop the engine and dive down to cut the prop free.
In the end none of that happened, once we crossed to calmer waters the engine checks and the pressure gauge on the filters showed normal. We now know our tanks are spotless.
The loop is filled with random sights and experiences. On the way to Elizabeth City we saw this huge dome with what looked to me to logically be a Quidditch pitch. Thanks Google, it turns out that its The Weeksville Airship Hangar. Very cool.
If I haven’t mentioned it, its been pretty hot, so once we got to the free dock at the MidAtlantic Christian University, Brian went exploring, I stayed at the dock. Lovely folks involved in ministry work and a lot of geese visiting. On the docks were 10 sail boats of good pedigree but beat up and in need of repairs, and one 40’ CHB trawler that was so rotten it smelled from 10 feet away. Then I figured it out, these were donated boats, of course, later that night we met a family that was going to take the largest sailboat and use it for mission service on the ICW. Best of luck to them, the boat needed lots of money and work.
