Midnight Run

The wind and wave predictions for the Albemarle Sound for yesterday were all over that place. There is some very heavy weather just offshore of OBX so inland you still feel the effects. The National Weather Service and PredictWind showed a lull in the conditions overnight. From where we are in Bellhaven, we have to traverse a bit more of the Pungo River, travel 2–3 hours in long canal with two fixed bridges, then go down the Alligator River for 2– 3 hours to reach the swing bridge that is on the edge of the Albemarle Sound. The Alligator River Swing Bridge cannot open in winds over 30 knots so it’s on lockdown right now. No problem because you would never want to cross the Albemarle in those conditions. But, you can’t cross on a lull if you don’t get into position so we decided to head up to the edge and check it out.

We headed out of Bellhaven around 2pm. We should get to the Alligator Bridge after dark. If the predictions are correct, the wind and waves will have died down, the bridge will be able to open and we will cross the Albemarle on a Midnight Run. Here in Bellhaven, the winds were howling and we sailed across the top of the Pungo River with only half of the jib out. The next hurdle is the notoriously short Wilkerson Bridge. Luna went under this bridge with her previous owners and the bridge scraped her equipment off the top of the mast.

We’re confident that we’ve made her as short as she can be. The equipment is off the mast, the water tank is full and the fuel is topped off. We should be heavier than a pregnant cow. These prolonged north winds should be blowing the wind out of the waterways lowering the water level in the canal too. The wind is certainly fierce at this point. We take down the sail and round the corner into the canal. There is the bridge. She looks tall.

As luck would have it, the tall trees in the side of the canal break the wind which calms the waves and we have a smooth glide up to the bridge. Slight hiccup, the height clearance board that is a half mile before the bridge is broken and unreadable. The fact that there is one of these early warning signs let you know to be on guard. She has another height board on the bridge at the water level. You can never read them far enough away for comfort. It takes binoculars. I can tell by the water stains on the sign the she usually has 64 feet of clearance. Today she has 64.5. That’s a whole extra foot more than we ‘need’. We take it slow anyway. It always looks like you’re going to hit the bridge but we have no problem.

The conditions in the canal are sublime so we make sure to cook and eat dinner before we get to the other end around 7pm. We motor sail down the Alligator River as the sun sets. Again, luckily, we pass an obstruction in the water just before dark. It looks like three broken sign posts lurking at water level just outside of the channel. We only see them because the water level is a little low and it’s still a little light. Note to self: stay strictly in the channel after dark. The wind picks up but it’s not too bad and we put up the jib to give us a speed boost. Mike gets on the phone with the bridge tender who confirms that, unless the wind gets worse, she will be able to open for us when we get there in an hour. Onward.

We get to the bridge about 9:30pm. She opens it but it’s really hard to see the fenders. Boats don’t have headlights so I go out on the front with our hand–held spotlight and shine it on the bridge so Mike can guide us through. Fun stuff.

Within a half hour, we’re in the Albemarle Sound. This lull is only a lull in a relative sense. It’s not 30 knots on the nose with big waves but it is 10–15 knots with 2 foot waves. During the day this would be a fun sail. The wind direction wasn’t perfect for the line we wanted to take so we adjusted and motor/sailed across in a few hours. Then a few more hours up the Pasquotank River to Elizabeth City. We arrived about 2am and are social distancing out on anchor.

After Mike’s conference calls this afternoon, we’ll scoot up closer to the South Mills Lock of Dismal Swamp. I called them yesterday and they confirmed that they will be opening the locks and drawbridges on schedule today.

There looks like good weather for traveling up the bay over the weekend.