Mike
11/05/2007, Mile Hammock Bay, NC

No picture today. The dolphins and pelicans just won't stay still long enough.

Beaufort to Mile Hammock Bay - November 3rd

Kathy stayed up until about 1am on anchor watch and I relieved her then. It was beginning to subside a little a around 5am so I went to bed. The wind was still blowing about 20 knots when we got up and most of the people around us seemed to be staying another day. I worked on retrieving our secondary anchor and we were in the process of making our minds up when we spoke to "Restless" on the radio. They had left Oriental early and said that the conditions on the water were fine.

So...we hauled in the primary and headed over for the 11am opening of the Beaufort Bridge. By the time we time we worked our way through Beaufort and over to Morehead City, Steve and Carol were just coming under the tall Bridge at Morehead City.

Most of the day was spent in a very narrow channel in the Bogue Sound heading mostly west away from the Cape. The shore was lined with nice homes and there were porpoises playing around the boat.

As we left the Sound we entered a marshy landscape with fewer homes but more wildlife. Finally...we got to an area that seemed to be mostly swamp...Camp Lujeune, where we spent the night with about 25 other boats.

We have three bridge openings to deal with tomorrow and two of the three only open on the hour so our departure has to be timed for the first opening about three hours away. Our plan is to take off at about 8 am to hit the 10 o'clock opening.

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Mike
11/03/2007, Beaufort, NC

November 2

Today we sat on the boat and listened to the wind howl through the rigging. There are two anchors set but we still move a little on gusts of over 40 mph-more wind than was forecast yesterday. I increased our scope during the afternoon and stopped the little bit of drag that we had been experiencing. It was a long day... too rolley to do any work, although we did manage to put together a light fixture.

We are sheltered quite well but still there are two foot waves in the anchorage. Luckily, we have a good internet connection here and were we able to catch up on the news. I ordered a few items on line and had them delivered to Scott in South Carolina.

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Mike
11/03/2007, Beaufort, NC

Beaufort Day 2 - November 1

Town Creek seems to be as good a spot as any to sit out the next couple of days as Hurricane Noel passes to the East of us. Today is sunny and hot... around 80 but the winds are predicted to begin to pick up this evening and blow for about 48 hours.

We walked the town this morning, found the post office and picked up a few things at a convenience store. The waterfront consists of about 8 blocks of shops, restaurants, and docks. It was very clean and tidy. The three or four blocks behind Front Street consist of stately, pre-Civil War, homes.

On Donna's recommendation, we made sure to stop at the Museum and spent an hour or so checking out the history of this community, it's early business, and its ties to the water. Most interesting to me were the old skiffs used in and around the outer banks and the surrounding marshes. Although the sizes were different, they were all gaff rigged with flat bottoms and a centerboard. There were also a couple of examples of plank row boats that were remarkably similar to the design that grandfather built before aluminum boats were invented.

After returning to the boat, we polished off the last of the jambalaya and spent the afternoon working on various projects and taking advantage of great internet service...for once. I also put out a second anchor, just trying to take as many precautions against the forecast 25 to 35 mph winds.

We had dinner on Cielo with Kevin and Lizz, who we probably won't see for a while. They are leaving from here to run about 800 miles to the Turks, skipping the Bahamas altogether. Kevin made a chicken/pasta dish and we brought a salad. As always, we had an enjoyable evening with them and wish them the best.

The wind began to blow about 2am. I got up and set the anchor alarm....(In truth, I had to wake Kathy up to have her set the stupid thing) and spent the rest of the night listening to the wind.

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