{"id":16645,"date":"2011-07-05T23:04:49","date_gmt":"2011-07-06T04:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/?p=16645"},"modified":"2011-07-05T23:37:05","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T04:37:05","slug":"the-ditch-isnt-so-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/the-ditch-isnt-so-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ditch Isn’t So Bad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alligator-River-105.jpg\"<\/p>\n

We’re a day from completing the Intra Coastal Waterway. Yesterday’s run was along the Alligator River Canal, essentially a straight line which screams “boring” when viewed on a chart. We found it just the opposite.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-111.jpg\"<\/p>\n

There are creatures great and small to observe.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-108.jpg\"<\/p>\n

And a feast of nature’s textures to interest the eye.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-106.jpg\"<\/p>\n

And if there is a navigation marker (or two) with Osprey nests, you know we are going to anchor and check out flight ops.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-113.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Even the stern wake holds our interest, although cleaning a tannin acid stain is a known byproduct.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-109.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The shallow edges of this section are easily discerned in the shape of these waves.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-102.jpg\"<\/p>\n

There have been long windless stretches, which are tolerable (just) in the shade of the flying bridge. We are out of season for a change, and traffic has been minimal.<\/p>\n

We are anchored tonight just north of Elizabeth City. It is serene, there is weak Internet coverage, and the lighting at sunset has been breathtaking.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-101.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The hook is firmly planted in eight feet (2.4m) of water (after doing a bottom survey with the sonar for tree stumps). Hopefully, the anchor will come up in the AM without a fight.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-100.jpg\"<\/p>\n

As a final treat to end the day we’ve been presented with wonderful cloud illumination, and a gaggle of buzzards working a nearby thermal.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-104.jpg\"<\/p>\n

With more osprey out over the waterway cruising for a tasty meal.<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-112.jpg\"<\/p>\n

We will be up early tomorrow to check out the surveying handiwork of one George Washington,<\/p>\n

\"Alligator-River-103.jpg\"<\/p>\n

in the form of the Dismal Swamp segment of the Intra Coastal Waterway.<\/p>\n

Then, having threaded our way from Florida to Virginia we shall exit right, and head back offshore. Its been great fun, but the time has come to make tracks for a cooler climate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re a day from completing the Intra Coastal Waterway. Yesterday’s run was along the Alligator River Canal, essentially a straight …Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dashew-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}