October
7, 2000
Location:
Elizabeth City, NC
Odometer:
217 miles
Our first experience going through locks on the
Dismal Swamp was basically a positive one. We even have some teak and gel
coat remaining on the boat (and some work to do in the Bahamas). The
Swamp is gorgeous and we were literally the only boat on the canal.
We cruised without incident into Elizabeth City NC and docked at the city
complimentary dock. We met the infamous Rose buddies (locals who meet
and greet the incoming cruisers and help with lines) and went to their
wine and cheese party. We walked around the small city and settled on
Mulligan's Grill for a tasty waterside dinner.
October
8, 2000
Location:
Little Alligator River, NC
Odometer:
247 miles
We decided to brave the upcoming weather front
and cross the Albemarle Sound today. The crossing was rough, wet and
COLD (32 knot winds) - Laura hid in the master cabin holding on to the
furniture while Chris continued on through the rough waters. We
arrived in Little Alligator River and nosed in close to shore to anchor in
calmer waters. The high winds and rain prevented us from watching the Redskin
game...you all can imagine how bummed Chris was!!
October
9
Location:
Belhaven, NC
Odometer:
304 miles
We traveled today to Belhaven
NC through calmer winds and smaller seas. Belhaven is a small
friendly town and we took a slip at the River Forest Inn and Marina
(gorgeous Inn). The Inn has complimentary golf carts that cruisers
use to get around town and we took advantage of one to head to the grocery
store. It was a darn cold ride! We ate dinner at the Inn's
southern buffet (okra, squash stuffing, deviled crab, oyster fritters,
etc.) which was quite good.
October
10
Location:
Hobocken, NC
Odometer:
330 miles
We left the River Forest
Marina around noon after cleaning the boat, filling water tanks and doing
some laundry. We cruised to Hobocken NC and anchored in small cove
off of the ICW.
October 11-13
Location:
Beaufort, NC
Odometer:
375 miles
Today
we cruised to Beaufort NC - a wonderful town dedicated to the boating
community. This area is filled with all types of sea birds, clear water,
dolphins, and wild horses. As soon as we neared Beaufort we saw a pod
of dolphins in the channel. In all my excitement of seeing the
dolphins we got several blurry photos of water (jumping up and down
screaming causes blurry photos!). We anchored in Town Creek and went
into town. We window shopped at the wonderful little stores of Beaufort and enjoyed a dinner of fresh steamed shrimp. There are
shrimp boats everywhere in this area so you can imagine how fresh the
shrimp are! We also located a canvas shop, "Canvastic" and
enlisted them to sew new windshield covers for our boat. These would
not be finished until Friday so we had a day to play in Beaufort. The
highlight of our stay here was a trip we took in our dinghy to go find
dolphins. We drove 3-4 miles back into the channel and spent an hour
in the midst of a huge pod of dolphins. For those of you who know me
(Laura) well, you know I was in heaven! They swam all around the
dinghy - it was amazing! Our new windshield covers look great so it
is time to continue our trip south!
October
13
Location:
Queens Creek, NC
Odometer:
406 miles
We cruised south and anchored
in a pretty creek off of the ICW called Queens Creek.
October
14
Location:
Carolina Beach, NC
Odometer:
471 miles
Oh the powerboats!!! I
realize we are officially a "power" boat but at 7 knots we are
literally being run over by other power boats. Some slow to a
crawling 6-7 knots to pass but the majority rip by us and throw a huge
wake - we have been tossed around all day - and this being a Saturday the
ICW is packed with boats of all sizes each seeing how fast they can
possibly drive. Ok, I am done complaining for now! We cruised
to Carolina Beach NC today and anchored in the harbor in 20 feet of
water. We took the dinghy to shore and walked around a bit.
For the most part the town is closed for the season but we managed to find
a seafood store and purchased some fresh shrimp. We returned to the
boat and steamed them for a wonderful dinner. No, we are not
tired of shrimp yet :)
