Day 9: 10/19/07 Slade Creek – Belhaven (9 miles)

We got an early start this morning as we planned to make it to the upper Alligator River and anchor out. After listening to the marine weather forecast of an approaching front with heavy winds and thunderstorms, plus projected NW winds of 15-20 knots and 2-3 foot waves on the Albemarle Sound for Saturday, we quickly changed our minds and made it a very short day instead. We simply motored out of Slade Creek and up the Pungo River a few miles to Belhaven, where we ducked through the breakwater and into the very protected shelter of the Belhaven Waterway Marina where we’d stayed on day 3.

We were tied up at their face dock before 0900, so we used the day for some maintenance tasks that had been suffering from a lack of “round-to-it.” I only had to go to the hardware store twice. Buck was nice enough to buy me lunch at the Back Bay Café. Our soup and sandwich lunches were better than our previous dinner. We continued with our tasks through most of the afternoon.

The rain and wind did hit during the afternoon, although we got very little wind effect where we were. As the air was a bit close with all the ports and hatches closed, we deployed my Cruisin’ Cool air conditioner for the first time this trip. The primary AC unit is built into a Samsonite suitcase, and there is a small pump which is lowered into the water next to the boat’s hull. This air conditioner does a great job of cooling, is simple to operate and I can take it to an air conditioning shop if it breaks. It’s a shame they no longer make these units as they would be an ideal cooling solution for several of the boats at the plantation.

About 1630, Buck and I put away the sandpaper and wood filler and headed for the showers.