The next day we motored the entire 60 miles to Pungo River and met up with the Mershons in a pretty anchorage before entering the Alligator Pungo Canal. We shared a dinner and had a wonderful evening catching up on what we each did this winter and who we met that they had known from their other trips down the waterway and to the Bahamas.
We motored through the 20 mile canal but were able to sail up the Alligator River and across Albemarle Sound. We wanted to come up the Virginia Cut route, but the winds in Albemarle Sound were pret
ty close to being right on the nose so we cracked off a bit and sailed up the Pasquotank River to Elizabeth City, NC. where we stopped for 2 days. This town is where the "Rose Buddies" give all the visiting wives a rose and have a small wine & cheese party if there are more than 5 boats at the free city docks. We didn't see any roses or parties, but the town was nice and worth the stop. The docks are not really very good so we tied up to a nice bulkh
ead that was protected from the wind as directed by the local drawbridge tender. I told him the signage at the bulkhead said "NO DOCKING, FOR TRAILERED BOATS ONLY" since it was next to a launch ramp area. He said no problem. The next day a guy from Parks & Rec. came by and wanted to know if "I could read the signs". I told him why I was there and that I was leaving the next morning. He said enjoy Elizabeth Cit
y and that everything was fine. I think it was only fine because the weather & fishing was not that good so very few fishermen were using the launch ramps! We toured the new 15 million dollar museum which can be seen from the water about the area and its history. We left on a Friday and that Saturday was the Big Annual Potato Festival- "free French fries as long as they last"! Better pencil that one in on your must visit list for next year. 
The Dismal Swamp was fine again with no water depth problems and the lock tender at Deep Creek was first rate and very friendly. We saw loads of turtles and a Canadian goose standing on an osprey nest in a tree. Arleen wished she had been closer to get a photo because it certainly looked odd!
As we motored past Portsmouth Arleen thought she smelled diesel fuel. I thought it might be the local industries. A quick check in the engine room confirmed we had diesel fuel leaking from a cracked fuel line, with about 1 1/2 gallons of diesel in the bilge. Not too nice! Very fortunately we were right in front of Hospital Point anchorage and Tidewater marina. We anchored and cleaned up the bilge, but it was pushing noon on Saturday so I couldn't look for parts. I called my friend Dave and he said I should try to solder the cracked brazed fitting. I did that, but on re-start the fitting began leaking again after we hauled anchor and the crack telegraphed through my soldered joint. We anchored for the night and I cleaned the fitting again and applied GOOP and left that dry over night and then wrapped a layer of Recue Tape over the GOOP. Since bad winds (20 to 28 knots) were forecast for Monday I thought it would be good to get in to Tidewater marina and tied to the dock. So we motored in here Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. and the patch held. Tomorrow I'll be out looking for the replacement part which should be within 4 miles of Portsmouth. 
Friends, Chick and Dorothy, whom we met in Stuart, FL. live here in Norfolk and we partied over at their house today with another couple from our sailing club who also stayed in Florida and are also traveling back to Annapolis.
So the bottom line is my boat engine is broken, the partying is pretty good here in Norfolk, we are having fun with friends along the way, a
nd Chick is loaning me his truck to chase down boat parts. And I already told you I broke down in front of a marina and anchorage.
It just doesn't get any better than that! Maybe that's why this rainbow came out after the rains Sunday over Norfolk.
Arleen”s Note: Engine’s One, a diesel company, bent over backwards to find something that would work for us so that we would get moving again. We were able to get the boat fixed by using parts from an old engine because the store did not have the new part that we needed in stock. Al put it all together and it still weeped fuel just a little. He could not figure out why, and so we called in a mechanic from Full Throttle who told him he over tightened the bolt. With new copper washers put in and tightened by a mechanic, it WORKS and we are underway again! We are moving out to Old Point Comfort which is at the mouth of the James River. The winds are too much to go into the Chesapeake today, so we will head out tomorrow with probably hundreds of other boats.
Friends, Chick and Dorothy, whom we met in Stuart, FL. live here in Norfolk and we partied over at their house today with another couple from our sailing club who also stayed in Florida and are also traveling back to Annapolis.
So the bottom line is my boat engine is broken, the partying is pretty good here in Norfolk, we are having fun with friends along the way, a
nd Chick is loaning me his truck to chase down boat parts. And I already told you I broke down in front of a marina and anchorage.It just doesn't get any better than that! Maybe that's why this rainbow came out after the rains Sunday over Norfolk.
Arleen”s Note: Engine’s One, a diesel company, bent over backwards to find something that would work for us so that we would get moving again. We were able to get the boat fixed by using parts from an old engine because the store did not have the new part that we needed in stock. Al put it all together and it still weeped fuel just a little. He could not figure out why, and so we called in a mechanic from Full Throttle who told him he over tightened the bolt. With new copper washers put in and tightened by a mechanic, it WORKS and we are underway again! We are moving out to Old Point Comfort which is at the mouth of the James River. The winds are too much to go into the Chesapeake today, so we will head out tomorrow with probably hundreds of other boats.
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