Woke this morning with unexpected high winds and rain... decided to stay put at Dowry Creek Marina.

We departed from Alligator Marina at approximately 0745... from the early sunrise it appeared like it was going to be a sunny day... that was not the case... was a very cold day with cloudy skies... the bow railings, decks and the docks were covered with frost/ice... BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

We had been joined by two other boats at the marina last night... power boat and a sailboat... they both left just before we did... other than those two boat virtually no other boat traffic today.

We arrived to Dowry Creek marina at approximately 1400 and were securely docked at 1415. Our location for the night N35°31.967', W076°32.124’. We traveled today for 6.5 hours covering 42.9 nautical miles averaging 6.6 knots.

I was up early at 0600 to check weather conditions... it was iffy whether we were going to stay or leave... forecast for Albemarle Sound was for north winds 10-15 knots with gusts to 25 kts, seas around 2 feet... diminishing to 10 kts in the afternoon.... 2 foot following seas would not be bad to cross the Albemarle Sound... but most likely it would be worse... so, we decided to stay another day.

Around 0730 there was literally no wind... all the other boats that had been at the marina with us had left... Hmmmm…. we decided to continue on with hopes that the winds would not pick up and it would be calm on the Albemarle Sound... we were underway at approximately 0745.

Of course the winds did pick up and we had 3 foot waves on the Albemarle Sound... but it was really not bad of a ride with the following seas. It was just very cold today low 40's, no sun and 20 knot winds... BRRRRRR!

We arrived to Alligator River Marina at approximately 1245 and were securely docked at 1300. Our location for the night N35°54.332', W076°01.718’. We traveled today for 4.25 hours covering 31.25 nautical miles averaging 7.35 knots.