ELIZABETH CITY FREE DOCK, ELIZABETH CITY, NC

29 November to 1 December, 2004. Many of the friends we made here previously had continued on. We met up with a boat we had passed on our journey north from Elizabeth City back to the North Carolina Welcome Center. We immediately made friends with them (Duncan and Stacey on their sailboat "Comet"). The four of us went to the Riverwind Health Club for showers and steams. We also met Duane and Flore on their very nice trawler "September Morn." They were docked next to us and graciously offered us electricity for heat, via an extension cord from their boat to ours but we politely refused. There was a sailboat anchored just outside the Harbor of Hospitality. We learned that they had planned on heading out and had encountered engine problems. They had only one choice- to raise their sail and sail back into the harbor for repairs. I missed the whole thing but Rocky watched them come in under sail and nearly crash into the dock. Kurt, the father of 2 girls on the boat, burned his hands pretty good on the stern line as he hooked the piling. His wife was also traveling with them. The ten year old girl said to her dad, "I don't know what you're complaining about, it's a sailboat! All of the great people we meet are definitely rekindling our faith in humanity. We attended another wine and cheese party or two and each time, we met more cool people. Although Elizabeth City is a great place to be stuck, we were getting very anxious to move south.