Out of the swamp

It was great being in the swamp, known as the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. It is a big place, and hard to believe it can exist here on the East Coast given the unrelenting pressure of human population growth in this country. Here is an idea of the size. I sailed into the Alligator River yesterday from Albemarle Sound in the late morning. Other than the navigation Mark's the only thing man made that was visible was the busy bridge headed to the Outer Banks. The bridge was at mile 84. The next manmade item was a house at about mile 123 with a for sale sign on it. Otherwise, just trees and marsh, with a few low flying fighter jets. I guess the wildlife constituency is poorly represented.  People wouldn't put up with the noise. This land contains a handful of the only red wolves in the world, and a large number of black bear. I anchored for the night in the middle of the refuge and it was pretty nice. This morning I continued on to Belhaven, a nice little town where I have stayed before.

Cha