(The
last of three – gotta publish when I can - we'll be at this anchorage through Wednesday. The weather has kicked up.)
 |
| Going down the Alligator-Pongo River Canal. |
June
9, 2019
Mosquitoes!
Gnats! By the tens of thousands!! Egads!
That
pretty much describes the last three anchorages (not this one, thank
heaven). I have never seen so many bugs in my life.
Literally (I am not exaggerating in the least) tens of thousands of
bugs, carpeting every available surface, whether vertical or
horizontal. Dead bugs, live bugs, dying bugs.
The
storm on the Neuse cleaned the boat of our spring’s accumulation of
mosquito corpses, but that was nothing compared to this. Clouds of
the little buggers have choked the sky every evening at dusk, and one
way or another a lot of them have found their way inside. We’ve
battened down the hatches (and portholes) but somehow they worm their
way in. Fortunately the gnats died after a day and the mosquitoes
aren’t overly vicious, although one hungry devil bit me multiple
times on my foot as I slept and it itches like fury. It’s not just
bites: they fly into your hair, under your glasses, up your shorts,
and into your nose!
This
morning’s crop of mosquitoes (the gnats are long gone) stuck to
every conceivable surface (including the deck, the self-steering, the
boom, the helm – you name it) and rode all the way across Albemarle
Sound with us. As soon as we dropped the hook, David hooked up the
wash down pump and sprayed the corpses overboard and the live
mosquitoes into flight. The spiders have been hysterical with joy,
flinging webs every which way; it was a spider bull market in bugs.
We were not hysterical with joy, just hysterical.
A
cool bath on the deck with the wash down pump calmed us down some.
Clean hair is a wonderful thing. We were so happy the water here is
fresh and not brackish. The weather is mild, the sun bright, and it’s
just perfect to sit on the foredeck basking.
Other
than bug wars in the dawn and the dusk, it’s been a lovely few
days, motoring (no wind where you want it) and watching thunderstorms
roll by and grey sheets of rain rushing up the river toward us.
Crossing the Sound this morning was like sliding through liquid
silver. We glided over silver water as smooth as silk, with the
silver sky swirling above us. We’re in the back country, here, with
no buildings, just a few other boats for company, a huge expanse of
water, and a remote horizon. Mornings like this make the bugs
irrelevant.
Check out this big guy - we followed this barge all one day. Can you imagine having to turn it?
A
couple of days ago we saw two bald eagles! And a deer, and two
buzzards, but I’m used to that. Two eagles! The trip up the
Alligator River was a bit tiresome, as it’s a large body of water
surrounded by scrubby bits of land. But our anchorages were beautiful
and prime spots for breathing clean air, listening to frog racket,
and watching the sky.
Here's a link to the canal where we saw all the wildlife (pictured above, also). The roar is "Mr. P" the engine. You go deaf after awhile.
We
have a stowaway – a little tree frog. I have no idea how he came on
board, but he must be really happy with all the free bug food. We are
both carefully trying not to squash him. He’s hiding under the port
winch handle, which is not a prime location, but I couldn’t
persuade him to relocate.
June
10
We
were supposed to head up the Virginia Cut today (formally known as
Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal, according to our guidebook), a trip
that will take about two days. On the other side of that is Norfolk
and the Chesapeake and waters unknown. However, we’re just too
lazy. We are floating, rocking gently in the breeze, and
contemplating an afternoon beer. Yes.
 |
| Our anchorage. The speedboat is whooshing along the ICW. Its wake will reach us in a few minutes and lop us back and forth for several minutes. Sigh. Why are they in such a rush? Other than the occasional annoying boat, it's really, really quiet. Can you believe we have cell phone coverage? |
No comments:
Post a Comment