7:30 AM - Left anchorage at the mouth of the Alligator Canal around mile 105.  Misty dawn with beautiful sunrise.  Uneventful trip down the 22 mile canal.  Lots of debris from hurricane Irene – most of it already collected by the Corps of Engineers and heaped near the bank, but still lots in the water. 

1,

 We worried about our nemesis bridge at the end of the canal – the infamous Wilkerson (aka Walter B. Jones aka Nemesis Bridge) with clearance of only 64 in the best of times.  This is the one that hung us up on our way north when they hung cables to paint that reduced it to 59 feet.  We had to go all the way back to Oriental to get some boat work done while we waited 4 days for them to finish. This time the boards read 64 and we squeaked through although we did hit the antenna at the top on the west side – so for sure an "unimproved" Belize or other 65-foot-masted boat would not make it under. . 

We debated crossing the Pamlico to get a better shot at the Neuse, but since the rest of “the shopping club” was stopping at Bell Haven we decided to do that too. Also the forecast is still for strong SW tomorrow which can mean very rough and low water in the Neuse. So we were all anchored near Bell Haven and invited to Tuesday’s Child for drinks.  What socialites we’ve become!   Grilled a small pork roast for lunch and will take some as snacks.  Had a lovely time aboard Tuesday’s Child with drinks in the "garden". Frank and Debbie also came over for “Heavy Hors d ‘Oeuvres”. Seems we are parting ways. Mary and Mike want to wait out the Norther in Bell Haven as their trawler rolls in 2 ft seas.