Well we hunkered down for a couple of nights at Pelican Marina in Elizabeth City before setting off again on Sunday morning.
OMG there was actually ice on the decks that morning!!!! Talk about having to watch our step! We are definitely not moving south as quickly as we’d like. 
We had a lovely cruise down the Pasquotank River and across the Albermarle Sound – this can apparently be quite a rough stretch of water so we were very pleased to have waited out the bad weather.
For some reason we had so many seagulls following us – in the end we decided that our wake must be stirring up some food for them. We certainly weren’t pulling anything behind us.
Once across the sound we came to a swing bridge across the Alligator River. The tender (operator) obviously likes to let a few boats go through at once as he has to stop all the traffic from both directions in order to swing the bridge out. Well as we approached there were about 5 yachts and one launch close to the bridge but we didn’t think we’d make that group as we were still a bit away. Anyway he called us up on the radio and said he’d
wait for us if we could speed up a bit. Well Lance didn’t need any encouragement
and stepped it up a notch. In no time we were roaring up the river to the bridge. I tried not to think of all the dollars of diesel going up in smoke!
Just as we followed the last yacht through we heard another call on the radio, this time from the skipper of the yacht. He’d seen our NZ flag and he was from Tasmania – though he did say he probably shouldn’t be seen talking to us! Good old NZ/Aussie rivalry!
We anchored for the night with many other boats along the banks of the Alligator River – not quite sure where it gets that name from but we’ve certainly seen no alligators.
The next day we headed down the Alligator River / Pungo River Canal – I really like these more confined bits of water. We even saw some deer on the water’s edge.
After crossing the Pamlico River we entered into Goose Creek and then headed for an anchorage about 1.8 miles up Campbells Creek. It is really secluded here – a few very nice, very large houses dotted around the shoreline but not much else. This will be our second night here as the wind was really a bit strong today.
But it’s been relaxing – I read my first book of the trip and even got some ‘housework’ done today! All in preparation for a our first visitors.
Tomorrow we head on our way again.
Still enjoying your journey down the ICW. I sure like the calm waters you are cruising in. Your pictures help to show me what the waters are like and your locations where you stay each night. I now have 2 of my fellow boaters following your blog. Keep your daily cruises coming,(and pictures) we all look forward to your adventure each night.
Be safe!!! jb