A wonderful July 4th weekend in New Bern & Oriental. It was New Bern's 300th anniversary of being the original NC Capitol & second oldest city in the State. Oriental held their annual Croaker Festival.
The weather was fantastic. Thursday July 1 was spent working on the boat other than a quick swim in the pool. Friday we toured the old town of New Bern. Saturday was the Oriental Croaker Festival, then back to New Bern for the Beach Music Festival. Ate at Morgan's Tavern for dinner. Sunday was a pool day, then to Bridgetown (across the Neuse River from New Bern) to watch the Air Show & Fireworks over the river. Fantastic weather & a great weekend.

June 17-20: A great long weekend at Cape Lookout. Penne & I left New Bern a little after noon Thursday June 17, & anchored at Cedar Creek (top of Adams Creek on the ICW) for Thursday night. Friday morning, had a good and fast (with the tide) run to Beaufort, & out the inlet. A good sail to the cape, close-hauled, in a reasonably calm sea. Anchored among about 15 other boats, but closest neighbor still 100 yards or more away.
Weather on the warm side, but a good (18 Knot) East wind Saturday. Took the dink around to the ocean side, & down to the old rock jetty, where we beached, & then walked to the ocean shoals.
A couple of large Loggerhead Turtles spent the weekend feeding around the boat, & provided constant company.
We motor-sailed into a SW wind Sunday morning as far as the Moorehead turning basin, then motored up Adams creek. Ran between rain storms on the Neuse river, but into the wind, so no sailing on the Neuse.

Thursday May 27:
After the depression cleared & the wind died down late yesterday afternoon, we had a beautiful evening anchored on Adams Creek - frogs on one side, whip-o-wills on the other, and dolphins in the creek. And a fantastic sunset. We had a "last dinner on the water" together - Spanish Mackerel for the 3 of us, leftover steak for Spot. It was wonderful all the way around celebrating our last night on the water, & our two-month anniversary of the start of the trip in Clearwater, Florida.

This morning was a fantastic sunrise, very calm, just the dolphins breathing occasionally, and a cockerel somewhere in the distance. After hoisting the dingy on deck, we raised a very muddy anchor at 8:00am, & headed out into the Neuse. Tried desperately to sail, but the wind was too light, & from the northwest (where we were headed - isn't it always that way!) So motoring was the name of the game again.

After a pretty run up the Neuse (we all remembered the closing scene in 'Red October' which was filmed on the Neuse), we threaded our way up Northwest Creek to the marina, & backed into an unprepared slip - so it took us a while to tie her in (did not look too professional, but we got it done). Then a major scrub down on the outside, & a tidy-up on the inside. It was very hot & still today, so long showers were in order for us, then dinner at the local restaurant (Hurricanes).

Tomorrow an interior cleanup, & then to Raleigh (by road) for the Memorial Day weekend. So the end of the journey has arrived. A wonderful trip, memorable sights, many experiences, and met a bunch of new & old friends. We'll be ready to do it again - well, in a week or two.

On the edge of a low pressure depression, so another very wet day, 25 knot NE winds with gusts to 30 knots. Slipped off the dock at 8:00am to work our way up Bouge Sound in the rain. The rain let up a little in the Moorhead City turning basin, but then we got behind a tug pushing a double barge load up Adams Creek, so a little slow.

Dropped anchor in Cedar Creek at the top of Adams Creek to let the winds settle a little on Pamlico Sound & the Neuse River.

Fish for dinner - the 2 Spanish Mackerel caught while offshore coming into Cape Fear.

An overcast day, 25 knot NE winds with gusts to 33 knots. Slipped off the dock at 6:45am to get an on-demand opening before the Wrightsville Beach bridge closed for rush-hour. A long 54 mile run today, but the tide was with us, even if the wind was not, so we made good time - thank goodness.

The Navy closed the waterway behind us for 4 hours for live-fire practice, otherwise we would still be anchored in the waterway south of Camp Lejeune with a number of other boats - got very lucky.

Tied up to the outside of Casper's Marina in Swansboro in the wind & rain, which of course stopped half an hour later - if only I had known that's all it took. But it did start raining again not long after. We'll walk the town for dinner tonight.

A wet & rainy morning, with a cold NE wind at 25 knots. Fought the current up the Cape Fear River before turning up the sounds to Wrightsville. Decided to take a slip rather than anchoring out in the rain & high winds, & managed to dock, fuel, & pump-out between rain squalls. Parked just below the Wrightsville Beach bridge, & right outside the restaurant - Blue Water Grill. Can almost have them pass the beer to the boat - almost. Spot has been rather laid back since Charleston, but got excited when he found out that we were back in NC waters.

A fun evening with Sarah Underwood after she finished classes at 10:00pm. Oh, another late night. Spot sure knows a good looking women when he sees one.

A very long run tomorrow to Swansboro, so up & away to catch the 7:00am bridge opening.