A three-day boat tour of the Albemarle Sound area will culminate in Columbia on Sunday, May 13.

The tour, aboard the Belle of Washington, is to commemorate the 350th anniversary of Albemarle County, the first governmental unit of what would become North Carolina, being divided into four precincts in 1668.

The precincts — Chowan, Currituck, Pasquotank, and Perquimans — were later subdivided further, including the creation of Tyrrell County in 1729.

The Albemarle Region is celebrating the 350th anniversary of this founding through a variety of commemorative activities including the boat excursion aboard the Belle of Washington.

The cruise will launch at Elizabeth City on May 11 and make stops at Albemarle Plantation, Edenton, Plymouth and Columbia.

Scheduled to be aboard are Bland Simpson, David Celceski and Tom Earnhardt sharing stories, legends, and “playing a little North Carolina music for all to enjoy,” sponsors say.

Initial plans call for the Belle of Washington to dock at Scuppernong Park on the west bank at 10 a.m., Sunday, May 13 (Mother’s Day). Participants will be ferried across the river to the Columbia boardwalk aboard the Partnership for the Sounds pontoon boat.

Columbia officials are being asked to fly US flags on the bridge and along Main Street, spruce up the downtown area, welcome visitors at the waterfront and accompany them as they walk to Pocosin Arts, Columbia Theater, the Winery, and the Visitors Center.

At noon the tourists are to board a bus for a visit to Somerset Place State Historic Site on Lake Phelps.