Elizabeth City

November 16, 2006

We spent the day in Elizabeth City while the wind tried to blow itself out. After a leisurely morning we were called to attention by a big splash in the water nearby. Our neigbor on the dock, Will, from Ontario, Canada, had slipped as he tried to get onto his boat which was pitching quite a bit from the bumpy water, and he couldn't get himself out. Kristen loosened the bow lines to allow Hans to jump onto the dock and help Will get out of the water. Will was fine, just a bit cold, shook up and maybe a little bit embarrased about all the fuss. We were just happy to help out with what could have been a really nasty accident.

After that excitement we went for a little walk around town, browsed the hardware store, and decided that it was an excellent day to fly a kite!




For lunch we tried the local deli's Reuben sandwiches (they were good). Then we went to the Museum of the Albermarle, a museum in it's infancy, but with a few interesting exhibits. One exhibit displays the restoration efforts of a 1760 North Carolina farmhouse. Since the museum is so new, we were able to meet the man who was restoring the house, and we got an impromptu private tour of the house and the work he's been doing. The house was originally built of popler and white cedar (also called juniper in these parts). The restorer showed us some indications of possible floorplans and uses of the house, such as grooves in the floor--indicating where a door had been, etc.

We were invited to a happy hour on a neigboring boat named "Christine," a 1974 Irwin and then Will took us out to dinner to thank us for helping him out this morning. The weather gurus have said that the conditions will be ripe to cross the Albermarle Sound tomorrow, so we're going to be up by first light to check it out and will probably set off at 6.00 tomorrow morning.