With our new autopilot in hand, on Sunday, November 5th, we left Coinjock Marina and headed to the Alligator River on Rattlesnake Bay—eerie names to say the least! I had my eyes pealed for two glossy eyes of either creature aforementioned; luckily none were seen.
While swampland is beautiful in its own way—snags of dying trees lying along the edge of the river, long stemmed grasslands with diverging watery pathways for the hardy kayaker, thick reeds and muddy land masses all along the river’s way--, it was really blooming in fall colors. The Alligator River is partly a very long multi-mile canal drawn in a straight line. The newly installed autopilot was a real boon for this easy passageway. We could relax more now and look at the stark scenery.
It wasn’t until we got to the Pungo River part of the canal that the river opened much wider and we finally saw seabirds, gulls and ducks swimming and flying about. Just beyond was Belhaven {beautiful harbor} where we are now staying for a night or two to relax, walk about town, do chores like garbage disposal and laundry, and for Allen to do some kayak fishing.
Belhaven at sunset is lovely, and the Mexican restaurant served some of the best food we have eaten. Allen adored the flan and even the fancy table and chair décor of the El Mariachi Restaurant.
Belhaven is a great stop, especially with the kindness of Diana at the Chamber of Commerce Welcome center right near the town dock. She drove her golf cart right up to the boat and drove us around town and straight to the laundry. She even left the door open to the Chamber’s lounge for us to peruse their well-stocked lending library for mariners’ use. We planned to stay two nights there since we were not in a rush, and Norma desperately wanted to get her hair cut and Allen to kayak and fish. We hope the River’s name does not run true when they see Allen long green kayak among the reeds.