(Anchorage at Back Creek, near Beaufort, NC)
We weigh anchor early, and need to pump out and take on fuel in Belhaven just a few miles down the Pungo. It's takes forever. The dockmaster on the VHF says he's at the hardware store so just tie ourselves up and wait. Two other boats follow us in to take on fuel. After ten minutes, three dockhands show up. The youngest dude tells us he didn't expect any boats because of how much a mess the Pamlico River was stirring up, so he had gone fishing. Another guy walks down the pier with a fuel nozzle in each hand and a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth. The dockmaster points at the convoluted pumpout equipment and tells me to come to the office when we're done.
We consider whether we should hole up somewhere since we don't think we can make it to Adams Creek past Oriental, since we're wasting an hour at Belhaven, plus the apparent mess of the Pamlico, and certainly the Neuse River as well. But, let's go and at least check it out. Batten the hatches! To allow the rougher seas to hit abaft the beam when we get to the Pamlico, I sail toward the eastern edge of the mouth of the Pungo. We reach the Pamlico. Nothing. The wind was still from the NE and only 10 knots or so. Easiest crossing we've had the whole trip. After some short canals we come out to the Bay River where it opens to the Neuse, and we calculate that we can make it all the way to where we had planned to anchor in the first place...and the Neuse is gentle as a kitten. We set the autopilot and just cruised to the Adams, and anchored in beautiful Back Creek with no other boats!. Spectacular day, spectacular evening. And the cats really enjoyed the cruise, too!