Chugging Through North Carolina

We spent 2 days in beautiful Beaufort. Friday night, cleaned up and somewhat rested, we ate at The Grocery Company, a great Beaufort restaurant. Our son Ryan and his finacee Sabrina drove down to see us. We drove to Morehead City and ate at the Sanitary Fish Company. With a name like that, we're not sure how they remain in business, but there is seating for 400, at least 300 filled, and the food is fabulous. Ryan and Sabrina left Sunday, taking Don with them, back to Raleigh, where he could catch a plane for home. That night Beaufort was rocked with a huge thunderstorm and 76 mph winds. The boat survived, being nicely tied to the dock, but there was damage to many surrounding boats as anchor lines failed in the harbor.

While at the Beaufort City Marina, we had the pleasure of meeting Anthony, from Ireland, and his friends from England/Scotland Duncan and Dorothy. They were headed for the Chesapeake also, and for the next four days, we kept company on the journey. Our fiirst night we anchored in Broad Creek, where Rick and Cookie had anchored last fall on a trip to Bath, NC. The second night we settled in a small creek, Upper Dowry Creek, near Bell Haven. Duncan, Dorothy, and Anthony joined us on Wind Dancer for cocktail hour. Forest fires nearby gave an eerie cast to the sunrise in the morning. We motored, chugging along without much wind to Alligator River Marina on our third night. There appeared to be no safe anchorages at the end of the day. Wind Dancer and Anthony's boat, Wild Fox, made it to a marina, and through another storm, with 35 knot winds, but unfortuately Duncan and Dorothy on Hunda, with its 7 foot draft, could not get into the shallow waters of the marina and had to journey another 20 miles to an anchorage. They were caught in the storm while transiting the river. The 4th night, after motoring through the intercoastal waters of North Carolina, the three boats tied up at Coinjock Marina and said our goodbyes over an unexpectedly  fantastic dinner.

Dorothy, Duncan, Anthony, Rick, and Cookie at Coinjock Marina

The intercoastal waterway in North Carolina is convenient and avoids the hassle of giving a wide berth to Cape Hatteras, but the waters are bracken, and we left a yellow wake behind us. After four days, the boat sported a brownish mustache where the brackish waters flowed across the bow, and another on the stern. There isn't much sailing to be done either, except in the Pamlico  River.  The trip was interesting to do this time, miles and miles of wilderness and cypress swamps, but we would not like to do it every year as we moved south again in winter.