June 16 - Afternoon at Alligator River Marina

Well, it was a pretty quiet day here at the marina. I did a load of laundry and cleaned out my closet. Mike worked on boat projects. He fixed heads (that would be toilets for the non-boat people), got the holding tanks pumped out (with lots of help from Jacob), got fuel, helped a cabin cruiser get to the fuel dock (the winds here are 25 knots or more with gusts blowing right at the dock), and general maintenance stuff. Carol got the trampoline repaired(something she has wanted to do since the beginning of the trip). Peggy got the decals put on the sliding plexiglass doors. Of course, we had to take a break at 2 and get ice cream. I do so love a full service gas station. Mike found out that this is one of the few stops on the southern route to the Outer Banks. Boy, was this a hopping place this afternoon! There was a steady stream of cars all morning and into the late afternoon. It has finally slowed down somewhat. It is a definite, though, that leaving tomorrow morning would best be done very early! For those of you looking for real boat details, here is today's news: The starboard tank for that head is finally breaking up. Mike thinks he had an okay pump out. Or, at least this one is better than it has been. Poor Mike. I think it must be rough to grill marina people on how well their sewage pump out system works. I personally don't think they would ever say that theirs was just average, or even below par. However Mike has asked the questions long enough on this trip to actually understand marina doublespeak. Yay, Mike! The best thing today is that it remains cool. It will be great sleeping weather again tonight. Peggy and I went out and took some great shots of LUX with the lighthouse right behind her. Tonight, we have been unable to resist the lure of the gas station. We are going back to Captain Charlie's- the restaurant room at the back of the gas station. But we must rush. If you are not there by 6:30, they don't serve you!