Left our quiet anchorage at Bear Point in the Alligator River at around 8:00 this morning and we were the last sailboat to join the parade.
We motored down the Alligator-
Pungo River for about four hours and at one point saw a deer attempting to swim across the river.
We went under two 65 foot fixed bridges while many large power yachts passed us by, leaving huge wakes. At one point we saw a Catamaran hard aground waiting for
TowBoat U.S.A. to come to the rescue.
We arrived at our
anchorage in a small cove of the river, put down the anchor and headed into
Bellhaven by dingy. We left the dingy at River House Marina, whose office and restaurant were housed in one of the Grand Old Homes in the area. We strolled around
Bellhaven and spent some time at the public library using the wireless
internet, but we could see a cold front moving in, so we hurried back to the dingy to return to Argo before the rain began.
We arrived back just before the storm hit and during dinner we could hear the winds and rain building. All of a sudden, the trawler that was also anchored in the cove started blasting its horn to let us know that our boat was dragging across the cove and heading for the shore where it would end up hard aground. Chas scurried up onto the deck and put down another anchor while the storm raged around him. We spent therest of the evening taking turns confirming that the anchors were now holding and monitoring the weather and Coast Guard stations. A Severe weather warning was issued, warning of high winds and rain, which remained in effect until 2:00a.m. On the radio we heard several other boats in distress contacting the Coast Guard for assistance. It was a stressful night but the two anchors did their job and we held firm.
We went under two 65 foot fixed bridges while many large power yachts passed us by, leaving huge wakes. At one point we saw a Catamaran hard aground waiting for TowBoat U.S.A. to come to the rescue. 
We arrived at our anchorage in a small cove of the river, put down the anchor and headed into Bellhaven by dingy. We left the dingy at River House Marina, whose office and restaurant were housed in one of the Grand Old Homes in the area. We strolled around Bellhaven and spent some time at the public library using the wireless internet, but we could see a cold front moving in, so we hurried back to the dingy to return to Argo before the rain began.
We arrived back just before the storm hit and during dinner we could hear the winds and rain building. All of a sudden, the trawler that was also anchored in the cove started blasting its horn to let us know that our boat was dragging across the cove and heading for the shore where it would end up hard aground. Chas scurried up onto the deck and put down another anchor while the storm raged around him. We spent therest of the evening taking turns confirming that the anchors were now holding and monitoring the weather and Coast Guard stations. A Severe weather warning was issued, warning of high winds and rain, which remained in effect until 2:00a.m. On the radio we heard several other boats in distress contacting the Coast Guard for assistance. It was a stressful night but the two anchors did their job and we held firm.
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