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The travels of the "Leah Gent"

I decided to do each page by state instead of a running list by date. They will be in order from North Carolina, our starting point, heading north. Our goal is to reach the Canadian border and then head back south to the Florida Keys for the winter and then return back to North Carolina. We expect to be gone about one year.

North Carolina

5/28/04       I see you have made it to the Travel section of my web site. Great!. Come along with us on our adventures in boating. I'll try to update this as often as I can with the cell phone connection depending on if we have a signal or not. We are scheduled to leave sometime next week for the boat and then cut the docklines a few days after that depending on weather. Stay tuned...........

6/4/04   We made it to the boat and have started getting all the "stuff" put away. We can almost see the front of the cabin. We bought two folding bikes to get around on once our transportation (Mom and Dad) head back to the mountains tomorrow.  The weather will keep us here for another day or two and I still lack putting in the last 2 solor vents. The fridge makes a little bit of heat that I'd like to get out of the cabin so one of the vents will be over the fridge and the other in the head. We hope to meet our kids in Elizabeth City next weekend if all goes well. The weather man is calling for an inch of rain tonight. I hope so. A rainy night on a boat makes for some fine sleeping.
 
6/6/04     The solor vents got installed today. Finally!! We leave in the morning. Oriental has been a really great place to hang out for the last little while. We went to an accordian concert on the porch at the Bean. For those who haven't been to Oriental, the Bean is a coffee shop across from the free dock harbor. It's a local meeting place and today everyone brought chairs and sat in the street having a wonderful time just listening to music. I haven't heard a polka since the Bratwurst Festival last year in our neighborhood at home. You can check out the harbor view camera at towndock.net     I think? Might be orientaltowndock.net  ?
 
6/7/04  We left Oriental at 6:40 this morning for points north. We have full fuel,water and supplies to get us by
for a while. The Neuse was a little choppy but the wind was on our stern and the ride was pleasant. It's good to get
going. We crossed the Bay river and then the Pamilco River without incident. Saw two large barges. They haul a lot
of phosphates out of NC by barge so they are to be expected. We are anchored up Upper Dowry Creek. We slept with the
windows and curtians open as there are no other boats to be seen. Big rain in the late afternoon. No leaks!!
Total miles: 48.2  Time:6:05 hours.
6/8/04  We're tucked up in a creek off the Alligator River tonight in about 3-4 feet of water. It's quiet here
except for the occasional military jet dropping bombs somewhere in the distance. I fret about looking like a target
sitting here in this bay with no other boats within 5 miles. The Alligator River was the same as on our last trip
through here several years ago. Just out of the Alligator-Pungo canal it went from dead flat to a 3-4 foot steep
chop in just a few miles. The boat pounded some and we decided to tuck into this bay and wait until morning to cross
the Albamarle Sound. No rain yet today. Big storm in the distance but it missed us. I've missplaced the cord to the
cell phone so I will post this when I find it I guess. It's amazing how easy it is to loose things on this boat.
Total miles: 42.1   Time: 05:30 hours.  Gas milage looks to be about 5-6 mpg at a 7.5 knot average speed.
6/9/04  We did the rest of the Alligator River today with the wind behind us so the ride was much better. The
Albemarle Sound was a little bumpy with the wind on the beam but I hurried across to keep Debbie happy. A nice ride
up the Pasquotank River and anchored off the yacht club for the night.
6/10/04  Pulled up anchor and went around the corner to tie at the free docks at Elizabeth City. They let you stay
for 48 hours free but we were told we could stay longer since they were not that busy. We met Jen and Harden in the
evening and they really liked the boat. They hadn't seen it since it went to ORiental.We made it to the library to
check our email and get rid of all the big files that we have been sent. I tried to download them with the cell
phone but it just takes too long and uses a lot of my minutes. It seems my last bill for the cell was about three
times normal because of all the calls at the boat. Please send email but not pictures!! If you just have to send a
photo, make sure it's 20k or smaller and I can get it ok.
6/11/04  Went to Norfolk for Harden's doctor appointment and then to Waterside at the harbor for Harborfest. Lots of
food and boats and people.
6/12/04  I'm tied at the south side of the South Mills lock while we wait for the opening at 3:30. This is the first
lock of the trip but not the last. This canal will close if they don't find some money to keep it open. The state
did not fund it in the 2005 budget so it may be closed for our return trip. We will need to go thru Coinjock if that
happens. We plan to tie at the free dock at the Welcome center in the middle of the Dismal Swamp canal for the night
an head to Norfolk tomorrow.  Gas is still holding out at about 5.2 miles per gallon. 
Our current position is N 36 26.332  W 76 19.439
Note: I just uploaded the above at one time and I think the thing I miss most on this trip is high speed internet!!!!

Click here for the Virginia Page

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Capt'n Debbie in the Pungo River Canal
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Giant blimp hanger on the way to Elizabeth City
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Storm at the Elizabeth City docks
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A perfect morning at the Dismal Swamp welcome ctr.
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Be sure to get in touch so I know you're out there!