LAST DAY IN ELIZABETH CITY

Trip Day:                56           Latitude:              36°17.90' N                       Locks Today:    0

Miles Today:       0         Longitude:      076°13.11' W                  Locks Total:      6

Total Miles:    1,216       Location:      Elizabeth City, NC  /  Pelican Marina

We took this photo as we first approached Elizabeth City, then had to do some research to figure out the purpose of this huge structure.

Elizabeth City has a long history with Blimps / Airships.  In 1942 the Air Dock was built and airships escorted Navy ships and performed search and rescue missions from 1942-44.   Airships also patrolled for submarines through 1957.

Beginning in the mid 1980s the US Coast Guard deployed TCOM   sea-based aerostats  to assist in the war against drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

 Today TCOM aerostat systems are part of air defense in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Israel and India 2008 TCOM .

Tomorrow we will head north in the Pasquotank River toward the Dismal Swamp.  The temperatures have been in the fifties the last three days, but the cloudy skies are supposed to give way to sunny, warm weather, which we will welcome.