DATE
18 November 2021
Departure point
Alligator River, NC, USA
arrival point
Pungo Creek, NC, USA
distance (NM)
32 NM
Cumulative Mileage (NM)
776 NM
Crew on Board
CALLY
Skipper, first mate, chef, entertainment and more; I guess that is solo sailing for you!
GENERAL WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
WIND
A lull before the storm
CLOUD COVER
Not a cloud in sight!
TEMPERATURE
You could feel the wind starting to swing north, bringing with it the cool northerly chill
PRECIPITATION
Dry, thank goodness!
Log
I had to cut my sail short the day before because the Pungo Canal was so long, there was no way I would make it to an anchorage at the other end before dark.
So I had chosen an anchorage right before the entrance to the canal.
That meant I was in the canal first thing in the morning.
I could see on AIS that SV Islay was ahead of me, they must have gotten an early start! There were a few other boats, none in sight, but all emitting their AIS. Some ahead of me and some behind.
I left the autohelm to drive for most of the day, only making small corrections here and there as needed. And I perched myself permanently on the sides of the cockpit looking for debris.
There were so many fallen logs on the side and occasionally you would see ‘dead heads’ sticking up out of the water like the one in this photo. Lucky for me, SV Islay had marked it on their charts and radioed me when I approached to give me a heads up.
Though I was keeping a constant watch it was so easy to miss one of these things. I just pictured one of them puncturing right through the hull and Tala sinking in the middle of the canal. I, too, marked this one on my charts and paid forward
the favor from SV Islay by radioing a warning to the vessel approaching behind me.
After popping out the other side of the canal making good time, I knew I would make it to my anchorage before dark. I looked to see if I could make it any further to another protected anchorage by dark but it did not appear there was one close enough. So I settled for my original choice.
I dropped anchor next to another vessel who radioed me after I was all sorted at anchor. I got a lot of kudos for travelling solo and had a nice little visit with the older gentleman also solo sailing his boat.
I set about my normal evening routine with dinner and a couple of miniature logs in the wood stove and then crawled under my warm covers. Tomorrow would be a day at anchor waiting out this weather!
“If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.”
– Wanda Sykes