Yes- this one is post dated too - I should be caught up soon.

Beaufort, NC was a logical place to stop on the trip south. It is also a nice place to stop. Not too small, not too big and some interesting things to see. We did not be stay long- just two nights before heading back out to sea for our next jump.

The passage to Beaufort ended with some good easy sailing so we are not too exhausted. Peter and Fritz proved that by heading ashore on the same day we arrived instead of collapsing into a bunk for some sleep. I was running weather routing for our next hop and fixing a diesel leak while they were onshore. Peter and Fritz were also on a mission- to find something we could grill for dinner and to look for a replacement hand bilge pump. They struck out on the latter but Peter was excited to have gotten pork chops in the land of pork. His excitement was justified- he cooked them up perfectly and they were delicious. The excitement of having just done a significant passage around Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout gave way to being tired. There was no night life for us- it was early to bed.

Our second day in Beaufort was more interesting. The weather forecasts were in agreement and an OK window for the next jump would be available the next day. So, the second day in Beaufort would be our last. The morning was spent working on Pathfinder and getting here ready for the next jump. The big task was tightening the forestay that was clearly becoming loose. The problem was inside the furling drum and the fix required taking off the genoa and taking the drum partially apart. It was an easy task for a competent crew. The teamwork on the repair was as good as the teamwork for sailing the boat and the job was done quickly. Time to go ashore!

We were onshore for a latest lunch and Fritz treated Peter and me to a mexican restaurant. Wow, the food was great and the servings were large. We were all very satisfied with our meals.

We then wandered the waterfont and ended up at the local maritime museum for a couple of hours. Blackbeards most famous ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge (QAR), sank very near to Beaufort, NC and this little museum had many (all?) of the cannons from the QAR along with other artifacts. The museum was full of historical displays about Blackbeard along with information about the local maritime industry.

Our jump around Cape Hatteras was bookmarked at both ends by Blackbeard. The remains of his ship waited for us in Beaufort and his head saw us out of the Hampton River. Well, it would have if we sailed out of the river when his head was on a spike at the Hampton's mouth. Blackbeard was a big problem for this part of the coast and his head was displayed at the entrance to the Hampton River after he was caught and killed. Now, I need to find out why it was at the mouth of the Hampton as opposed to so many other possible places.

We returned to Pathfinder after the museum and got ready for a morning departure. I am looking foreward to taking more time in the places we stop.