Left this morning at oh-dark-30 and watched the sun rise over the sails of a couple of boats that beat us out of the anchorage. As soon as we hit open water, the promised wind was there and we were beating into 3ft seas and 25kts of wind. Green water over the dodger and into the cockpit before 7:00AM. Murph was not amused. Tali slept peacefully under the dodger. She's starting to put the sea dog to shame. After about 5 miles of that nonsense, we turned up the Neuse River and downwind. It was a rolling sail but much better with the wind behind us and it was great having the motor off for a while.
We made good time up the Neuse and turned into Adams Creek in the company of many sportfish and our first major barge and dredge combo. Those long barges are always fun to pass in narrow channels. This one was only going about 1/2 kt slower than us, so we had to really put pedal to the metal to try and get around him as quickly as possible.
We stopped by early afternoon in Morehead City and were able to get the last space on the virtually free Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant dock. Oh boy, fresh shrimp for dinner and only $10 to tie up. You can't beat that. The market name comes from the 30s when it was first rented for $5.50 a week with the understanding that no beer or wine would be sold and it would be kept clean. The name was chosen to project compliance with the lease. Looks like it is dry to this day. Oh well, that'll keep the dinner bill down!
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Comments [2]
If you continue to make good progress , you may get here on Sunday 11/7. Do you plan to stay at Coquina Marina where you stayed before? We are looking forward to seeing you. We picked tomatoes yesterday so we will have fried green tomatoes when you get here.
What a difference a day makes. Today was on of those fall days that we started in fleece and ended in short sleeves swatting mosquitoes. We had a beautiful ride down the Pungo Canal, across the Pamlico and past Hobuken. With the northerly winds we even got to enjoy a brief but quiet sail.
We anchored in Bear Creek, which the guidebook cautions, can be deadly for mosquitoes on hot summer nights. We can attest that it is also bad on warm fall evenings. As soon as the sun started to dip, the mosquitoes came out with gusto and we were forced to retreat to the relative safety of the cabin. Jim has volunteered to grill the meat for dinner but is waiting a bit so that he won't be the main course. Murphy has been trying to help but can't quite figure out what the swatting is all about. He's a champ with Chesapeake Bay flies, but finds these NC mosquitoes a bit more stealthy.
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We stayed at Elizabeth City for a second day due to high winds on the Albemarle. The Alligator River Bridge was closed due to wind as well. So, we spend a lazy Sunday with Jim sleeping through some football games and me working on a little knitting. As the afternoon progressed, several boats arrived from the Dismal Swamp but there was no room at the inn and with the howling winds squishing us onto the bulkheads, no one volunteered for rafting. The new arrivals, circled a while and then found other places to stay for the night.
Monday, the wind backed down to 15-20 from the north so we headed out at first light. It was a sloppy crossing and a damp drizzly day but the crossing was uneventful and we arrived at the bridge just as it was opening. Perfect. There was quite a flotilla behind us as everyone took advantage of the "lighter" winds to beat feet across the sound.
We made it to the top of the Pungo Canal by 2:30, but with many miles to the next good anchorage we decided to drop the hook for the night at Tuckahoe Point. Unfortunately this means another muddy trip to shore for Murphy, a.k.a. Swamp Fox. We spent the remainder of the afternoon watching the rest of the fleet jockey for position in the anchorage.
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