Pasquotank River - Elizabeth City

Our son Chad (cruisingsabbatical.com) told us that he saw another Caliber 40 on a dock in the ICW a few miles before the docks in Elizabeth City.  It looked something like this:

Our guest slip next to Paul & Joyce's Caliber "Time"

It turns out that we had met the owners of this Caliber 40 at a Caliber Cruising Club meeting in 2008.  After a brief email exchange and a phone call we received an invitation to stay on their dock.  The timing was great - we were in their neighborhood and the forecast like the Swamp was dismal.  We had a great time at Paul and Joyce's - dinner with their neighbors - and dinner with 2 other cruisers heading south.  Their home is absolutely lovely.  They outdid themselves helping us provision.  Paul is an encyclopedia of knowledge about Calibers.  Bill and Sue on a power boat, and Ed and Joann on another Caliber also had a wealth of knowledge about cruising in the Bahamas.  By the time we were ready to leave, there were 3 Calibers in the slips. (We weren't really ready to leave - we loved our stay so much we wanted to winter there!)

Here is the same dock with 3 Calibers shot from shore.
One is hidden behind the old Cypress tree.  The roots of
these trees don't rot very much under the water.   When the
tree is gone the sharp roots stick straight up in the water.  You
don't want to hit them with your boat or find your anchor in them
when you are ready to leave your anchorage,

We found these 3 ladies flying in front of  Paul & Joyce's house.
They were dubbed the 3 J's  - coincidentally Joyce begins with

a J as does her neighbor Julia.  No, it has to be a coincidence -

Joyce and Julia are way too nice!

The 3 J's pet?  Who knew it was endangered?

Paul and Joyce came down before dawn to say goodbye.

The water in the Dismal Swamp Canal and in the Pasquotank River is a brownish tea color from the decaying vegetation in the swamp.  Paul told us that British ships used to come up the river for this water because it is slightly acidic and because it would last up to 2 years in a cask without going bad.  For the old sailing ships this water was highly prized.  

A view we will always prize: a chilly dawn on the Pasquotank River - time to depart.