There has been a lot of promotion this spring for cruisers to include the Albemarle Loop in their trip north. Traditionally, once the Alligator River Swing Bridge has been cleared, we cruisers make a dash across Albemarle Sound and on to Chesapeake Bay. One route is to Elizabeth City and on up the Great Dismal Swamp. The other choice is to go up the North Carolina-Virginia Cut to Coinjock…. with both routes meeting in the Elizabeth River at Portsmouth/ Norfolk, VA. This spring we decided to give some towns on the Albemarle Sound a visit.
Columbia, NC was our first stop. Located in Tyrrell Country… “unspoiled, uncrowded and uncomplicated”…, Columbia is its only incorporated town. The rest of the county has been declared a preserve, a National Wildlife Reserve, a coastal reserve and a State Park. Sitting gracefully on the banks of the Scuppernong River, Columbia is home to the Pocosin Arts School of Fine Crafts. While being toured through various studios, we discovered that it felt like a smaller version of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle, ME. It looked like a great place to come back to in the future! We did the self-directed Historic Downtown Home Tour and strolled along the Scuppernong River Interpretive Boardwalk. Very soothing… every bit.
Now for the not-so-soothing part. “The Albemarle has the dubious reputation of having the roughest inland waters on the entire eastern seaboard. It is quite true that winds from most any quarter tend to funnel up or down the sound’s entire (51 nautical mile) length. The long wind fetch, coupled with the Albemarle’s relatively shallow (15-20 ft.) depths, can quickly form violent seas that can daunt the heartiest captain and crew. Always consult the latest weather forecast before venturing on the Sound’s wide waters.” Claiborne Young in his Cruising Guide to Coastal North Carolina goes on to state, “From about March 15 to the middle of May, cruising conditions range from good to simply awful.” This further descriptive should help to explain why our plans to visit five communities on the Albemarle Loop ended after visiting only two. “There are bright, shining days with light winds which seem born in paradise.” That describes our cruise from the Alligator River Marina to the Columbia Town Docks. “The trouble is that the next day may be overcast and cool with 40-knot gales.” That pretty much describes the Albemarle as we exited the Scuppernong River heading for Edenton. In fact, the unexpected, un-forecasted 6 ft. seas caught Summertime smartly on her beam… severely rolling her tubby hull up onto her side. Our engine overheat warning buzzer began to blat. We immediately shut the engine down. As the boat thrashed around, Wally made a hand-over-hand trip to the lower level. I continued to maintain my wide stance for stability at the wheel. While Wally did a magnificent job trouble-shooting the problem, I kept an eye on the depth sounder. I watched our depth drop from 18 ft. to 8 ft. as we were trounced by the waves. Through our intercom system I reported the shallow situation we were moving into; at 5.9 ft. we decided it was time to drop the anchor, setting the boat up to turn into the wind. I could now leave the pilothouse and join Wally in the salon with the floor open to reveal the engine room. For over an hour Wally worked his magic with me acting as Gal Friday. His diagnosis was that the thru-hull opening that supplies cooling water to the engine had rolled out of the water, causing an air-lock. He flushed the system with fresh water from our tanks and installed a new impeller on the water pump. It was time to return to the helm. After offering a heart-felt prayer, we started her up. She purred away and her temperature gauge remained in the normal range. Praises be! After all that drama, we were actually safe and sound. To our surprise and delight, the winds had become lighter and more agreeable. With hope for a safe crossing, we followed our plans to continue along the Albemarle Loop to the north shore town of Edenton.
Upon arriving at the Edenton Harbor Docks, we were surrounded by a flurry of activity. As we soon learned, the annual Pilgrimage Weekend was only a few days away. Fifteen private homes and gardens and eleven historic sites dating from the 1700’s to the early 1900’s were being prepared for two days of public viewing. Every detail was being attended to. The Chowan County Tourism Development Authority provided us with 3 different brochures, each declaring Edenton to be “The South’s Prettiest Small Town”. A separate brochure on the Pilgrimage and another on the Historic Site Daily Tours were also available. After unpretentious Columbia, the Edenton welcome was a bit overwhelming. We opted to join other visitors on a one-hour tour on a vintage trolley at the cost of $12.50/person. The interpreter and her driver were impeccably prepared with the stops and the stories, projecting the town’s historical significance. It became apparent to us that the level of pride in Edenton’s history… felt by the vast majority of its residents… would be tough to replicate anywhere else. As the brochure from the Edenton Historic Commission put it, “Edenton has no museum. Edenton is, uniquely, a museum unto itself.”
