TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

5-10-08

We had a nice two days in Beaufort, NC.  We ate at Spouter’s for dinner the first evening-our first crab cakes on the trip.  The wind had picked up considerably by late Thursday, so we were glad to be bow into the wind and to have a mega yacht on the face dock as our wind break.  Friday morning we had a great breakfast at a dockside restaurant and messed around most of the day. 

First, we snagged one of four courtesy cars and made a run to the Piggly Wiggly to replenish our stocks.  We got caught in a downpour, but it was short lived, so we made it back to the boat without getting drenched.  After I had stowed the groceries, Bill returned from the dockmaster with a beautiful spring Mother’s Day bouquet from daughter Beth and family.  I don’t think that I mentioned that my bathing suit was waiting in the office for me when we arrived, compliments of daughter Ann, complete with Mother’s Day cards.  We are blessed to have two daughters who have tracked me down to give me a memorable Mother’s Day.  I made a trip to the post office across the street and was in and out of the neat shops while Bill talked with a new friend Dave who had spent lots of time on the Chesapeake getting pointers about where to go and where to anchor.  He and his wife Barbara on the boat Fortunate, with traveling companions Rusty and Joy on Slow Dance were anchored at Mile Hammock Bay.  We’ve already met so many nice cruisers, and every one has been friendly and helpful.  Our dockmate, guys on a Cabo Rico that had sailed from St. Augustine to Beaufort outside in about 4 days, were in wet suits working on the prop on their boat.  We joked with them and asked them to clean Cool Breeze’s bottom while they were at it.  After we came back from our walk-a-bout shopping trip, I asked if the bottom was clean, and he said, “Yes, but we’ve borrowed your prop, so you won’t be going anywhere for a few days.  It’s amazing that it was a perfect match.”

After showering in the pretty adequate marina facilities, we had dinner at RibEyes Steak House.  It was not very good.  The steak was tough, but the salad bar and baked potato were filling enough.  Then we walked down to the Beaufort music festival which was in full swing.  We missed the first two bands, but were able to catch “Yo Big Fat Mama’s Booty Band.”  They were really fun-a funky band that was fun to dance to until they turned up the amplifiers.  Then it was time to head back to Cool Breeze.  The wind was really roaring at this point, but we were doing well with our wind break.  We also noted another mega yacht that had come in, the Sharifa- a brand new Hatteras, just out of the shrink wrap headed to ports unknown.  The writing on the side was in Arabic and untranslatable for us, but the stern had the name in English, and also the home port of Sultan something or other.  I guess an Arab prince has made another purchase with the profits from $125 a barrel oil.

Saturday morning dawned very calm after overnight showers.  We once again had breakfast at the dockside restaurant and watched as the boats which had been confined because of the wind made their way out of the marina.  We, too, joined the parade, and exited our slip with no mishaps with assistance from the marina crew.  We had an easy trip up to Oriental.  The wind was usually 5 knots or less most of the way-what a change from the three previous days when the wind was gusting to 30 knots.  The passage was wide and adequate depths and we were soon heading into the Neuse River.  We crossed the river and watched a sailboat race taking place close to the entrance of the harbor, but they were creeping along with little wind.  We made our way to our slip at Oriental Marina, with flashbacks to Florida with the cowboy pilings, but we docked without incident.  Oriental Marina is also a motel, so it has a swimming pool and furnishes towels, shampoo, and soap at the showers and also towels at the pool.  After securing the boat, we headed for the Tucan Grill and enjoyed delicious hamburgers for lunch and homemade potato chips with ranch dipping sauce that were excellent.  After lunch we browsed in Island Trader that has more stuff than you can imagine-from lots of marine equipment to clothing, jewelry, and gift items.  I could spend a whole day there looking through everything.  Bill bought a fan to install to cool the refrigerator compressor as the temperature is not quite where we want it, and I picked out several things to “think about.” 

We’ve been debating the weather and watching the forecasts, which are not good.  Tomorrow there’s a 70% chance of rain with winds to 20 knots.  Not good weather to try and cross open water.  Monday is even higher winds.  Our next stop is about 50 miles from here, so it would be a long haul in less than ideal conditions.  So, I think we may be here in Oriental until Tuesday or Wednesday-not ideal, but better than getting caught in bad conditions with no place to anchor or find shelter in a marina.  We’ll see and keep watching the weather channel.  We, as always, have some projects to work on, and there are always clothes to wash!  Can’t wait to change those sheets again!