North Carolina Adventures

I know I've said this before but time is just flying by! I can't believe it's been  a week since I last posted. Sorry, but its been busy!
We are slowly but surely making our way down the coast of North Carolina. We just reached mile 305, meaning we've traveled 305 miles since Norfolk! Its been an interesting ride, with both open water sailing and ICW motoring. I will try to give you a quick summary of events!
As you know we have been trying to slow down to let our Boat Buddies, Bob and Sheila (B&S) catch up. So we have been spending a couple of days in each marina while they have been going full tilt.
After the heart-stopping bridge where we had to heel the boat to get under, we arrived in Belhaven, and stayed at the River Forest Manor and Marina.  It was a lovely spot, with a beautiful old Manor pictured below that has been recently restored and is used for special events. Unfortunately we did not get to see inside. But the marina facility was really nice, and there was free laundry for the marina guests, of which I took full advantage! They also had free golf carts, on a first come first serve basis. If there was one there, we were free to go ahead and take it.

River Forest Manor and Marina

So once we were settled in we took a cart and went into town, which was about a five minute cart ride.  It was a cold evening and I  was quite glad to have brought my down coat! We went to the Tavern at Jack's Neck for a beer, where we bumped into some fellow cruisers, and then over to Spoon River Artworks and Market, a local restaurant,  where we met up with Bill and Barb, a couple who we had met at the Alligator River Marina and with whom we had traveled down the ICW.  The restaurant was amazing, with very funky decor and artwork, not something you would expect in a small town like this and excellent staff. The next day we took the golf cart over to the grocery store. It was a little disconcerting because we had to drive it down the main drag with cars and trucks whizzing by us, and we weren't certain that the cart was going to make it without running out of batteries! But we made it!
The next morning we left Belhaven for Oriental, another small town along the ICW. We were able to sail along the way as we had to go down a couple of large rivers. The Neuse River was quite large, and we got our first look at shrimp boats. They are fascinating looking boats, with huge arms sticking out and nets that they drag along to catch the shrimp. I decided that was going to be dinner that night!!

Shrimp Boat on the Neuse River

We stayed at Whittaker Point Marina, recommended by another boat. It was a bit out of town, but had a courtesy car available for the marina guests. Bill and Michael of S/V Aquila were docked near us so I invited them over for swizzles. The next day the four of us took the courtesy van for a drive to Walmart (about 20 minutes away) and then into the town of Oriental for lunch.  I had heard it was a cute town, but it was much smaller than I expected, with only a couple of stores, a coffee shop, and an eclectic Provisions store that had everything from marine supplies to organic foods and even wine. There was one hotel with a restaurant that we had planned on going to for lunch, but it was closed. So we went to the other restaurant. We had our first soft-shell crab sandwich, which was quite good. On the way back to the car I noticed a little garage type building with a sign that said fish market, so I popped my head in and sure enough, I bought fresh shrimp right off the boat for dinner that night.

Oriental Fish Market

We decided to stay one more day to meet Bob and Sheila and then continue on together. It was a great reunion, sitting and catching up over a chicken curry dinner I made.
From Oriental we went a short distance to Beaufort. Homer Smith Docks and Marina was recommended, so we stayed there. This is not your typical marina, as it is actually a working fishing dock and processing plant. They are trying to get into the transient docking business so have a few docks put aside for travelling boats. It was a very interesting place to stay, and we all got lessons on shrimping and commercial fishing. We were also all handed a 2 pound bag of freshly caught shrimp upon check in!! Dinner!!

Baskets filled with fresh shrimp

Downtown Beaufort was a three block walk so we set off to explore the town. It was very nice and quite historic, with stores and restaurants along the waterfront. We found a pub for a beer and then headed back to our boats for our shrimp dinners. Sheila and I sat in my cockpit and shelled four pounds of shrimp, which took us about half an hour! There was enough for each of us to have three meals. I cooked one batch and froze the other two. It was delicious!

One of the biggest tasks we have to do almost every day is decide where and when we are going next. It sounds simple, but there are a lot of factors that come into play, including distance, tides, currents, bridges, weather, winds, and now daylight hours, since with the time change it gets dark by five.  Hugh and I have decided that we do not like going under these bridges with our tall mast. It truly is heart stopping every time, even though with tides now, if we time it right, we should have a foot or two to spare. Honestly, it looks like we are going to hit it every time! So, the other choice we have to avoid these bridges is to hop out into the Atlantic (and I don't say that lightly as this has been one of my biggest fears) and sail down the coast until there is a good inlet to get back in. After a recommendation from Hugh's brother Adrian, and much discussion with B&S, it was decided that rather than go overnight all the way down to Cape Fear (the name sends shivers down my back) we would leave early morning, and I mean early, (4 am) and go down the coast to Masonboro Inlet, just before Cape Fear. This would take about 10 hours and we would arrive in plenty of sunlight.
So we were up at the crack-of-stupid (3 am) and caught the 4 am opening bridge. The worst part about the whole trip was getting out of Beaufort Harbour. Part of the channel did not have lighted buoys , so we had to rely on our chart plotter and flashlights to see the marks. Then once we were out into the main channel there were so many lighted buoys it was hard to tell which were first. But once we got out into the ocean, and raised the sails, we were off, and  had  a lively sail down the coast. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise and a pod of dolphins greeted us at the other end. We arrived early enough to travel down the ICW to Carolina Beach, which has mooring balls that you can pick up for $20. Best deal we've seen lately. It seemed like a cool beach resort area but everyone was too tired to explore!

Sunrise over the Atlantic

I will admit the night sailing was not as bad as I feared, it was actually quite good. We had a single reef and working jib in 17 to 23 knots wind strength, no bridges or shoals to worry about, and the boat sailed very well in the 5-6 foot waves that were on our aft quarter. We saw 11.3 knots surfing down one wave!
We are now in Bald Head Island Marina which is right at the mouth of the Cape Fear Inlet. It is a nature reserve with no cars allowed (golf carts only) and many sand dunes, a golf course, miles of beaches  and a lighthouse. We rented a golf cart for the day and explored the island with B&S. I was quite surprised at how many homes they have built here. It seems to be quiet the elite vacation area.

Bald Head Island walkway to one of the many beaches

Now that Hugh has had me out on the ocean for part of a night he is planning our next hop, from here to Charleston, South Carolina, which is about a 22 hour run down the coast. I know it is the lesser of two evils, as it is quite a way down the ICW with many, many bridges and shoaling areas (this is when the bottom moves around from current and there is suddenly a shallow spot that boats like us with deep keels can get stuck on!) If all goes according to plan (weather and winds) we will be leaving Monday afternoon and arriving Tuesday afternoon in Charleston. We will spend several days in Charleston, celebrating the American Thanksgiving with B&S.
We are getting there....one day at a time.