THE COAST TO CAPE FEAR

We left Oriental on Thursday October 4th with the idea of taking another short hop to Beaufort, North Carolina. Beaufort is known as a great stopping place along the Intercoastal with an abundance of marinas, anchorages, and boat yards. We wanted to get there a little early to get a good look at the town. The guide books give a lot of warnings about crossing areas such as the Ambermarle and Pamlico Sounds and the large rivers along the way. They tell you about currents and potential problems for shoaling, certain wind directions and other hazards that could create problems. So far, although we are cautious and heed all their warnings, we have not had any serious problems that they warned us about. A shipwreck on the way to Beaufort (hurricane casualty?)

The most popular anchorage in Beaufort was on Taylor Creek, right across from the town. We were warned that the anchorage was very crowded most of the time and there was a strong current that swept the boats from one direction to another with the tide change. It was a pleasant trip to Beaufort and after we passed through the only bridge along the way, we turned into the Beaufort waterfront. It was definitely crowded with anchored boats. Ironically, the shore along the town was loaded with docks but they were more than half empty. I guess it's hard to justify paying $70 to $100 per night when you can stay for free! We went up and down the anchorage area looking for an open space. We finally found one and proceeded to pull up to a boat and drop the anchor about 20 or 30 yards behind and to her starboard. A lady came flying out of the cockpit and started cursing at us about anchoring too close to her and that we were going to hit her boat. I tried to explain that we were going to put out about 100 feet of rode and would be well behind her. She continued to curse and scream at us the whole time we were setting the anchor. This was apparently a hazard the guide books didn't tell us about! I told her that we were concerned about our boat too, and if it became a problem we would move. She proceeded to turn her stereo up, apparently in an effort to irritate us into leaving. We have met many people along the way and everyone of them have been extremely nice. This had to be the rudest person I have met anywhere. She had two anchors out, appeared to have a short scope, was already in the channel (main path for boats), and did not "swing" much for those reasons. We asked another local sailor about the problem and he informed us that she screams at everybody who comes near her and thought we would be ok. We asked him to call us if there was a problem while we went into town. The tide changed while we were gone and all the boats had swung 180 degrees. We appeared to be a comfortable distance away from her. Beaufort was a very nice town. Some touristy stuff, but mainly just a friendly local sea town. A unique home on Beaufort's Front Street

Denise at the Back Street Bar, a local cruiser hangout.

Manana at anchor in Beaufort (note the distance from the boat off the bow.

When we got back to the boat, we were a little closer to her boat than we liked, but I did not think it was a problem. When the neighbor came back to her boat around 11 PM, she started the cursing again and blasting her stereo. I pulled in some rode to shorten the scope to get further away to satisfy her. In pulling in some of the scope, however, we apparently dislodged the anchor and started to slowly drag back closer than we were before. OK. She wins. We lifted the anchor and tried to find another place to anchor. Not so simple, since it was pitch black, more crowded than when we came in, the tide was running 3 to 4 knots and the wind was blowing 10 knots and more. The key to manuevering in the dark is to go slow, which can be a problem with the wind and tide pushing you around, since the slower you go the less steerage you have. After several tries, we finally tucked in a spot in front of a small beach on the island to the south of town at around midnight. It seemed deep enough, but I was concerned that we might swing toward the beach and into shallower water. The other concern was to avoid the same problem we had with the other boat. I decided to stay up until the tide turned and the boat made a complete 180 swing. That way, I would know that we were in good shape. Denise went to bed and I sat in the cockpit reading my kindle and waiting. There were a surprising amount of fishing boats going in and out, but it was a beautiful night. Even dolphins swam buy to say hi! By 3 AM, we had swung all the way around and we were in the perfect location. Now I could go to bed! The next morning, as I was making coffee at about 6:30 AM I looked out at the beach to see wild horses grazing! I woke up Denise to take advantage of the scene. Wild horses grazing off our "private" beach.

We went into town to take a second look, got back to the boat, raised the anchor, got fuel, pumped out and were on our way by 12:30. We were going to take a short hop to Swansboro, North Carolina for the night. Swansboro was a pleasant anchorage, except for the swarming little power boats that seemed to enjoy flying past the anchorage at full speed with a huge wake. The town was also very comfortable, with some nice restaurants and just the right amount of touristy shops. Some of the scenes from Swansboro

We had a good nights rest and raised the anchor around 7 AM the next morning. The next leg would take us all the way past Wrightsville and on to Caroliina Beach State Park. The intercoastal was very busy with a lot of power boats flying past us with their huge wakes. We traveled with another sailboat named "Kantika" and hope to run into them at another anchorage soon. The scenery became more interesting as we were just inside off the ocean. Part of that scenery included Camp Lejeune. Military Equipment

Big Birds flocking in small trees

Inlets to the Ocean

We had found Carilina Beach State Park in Captain Bob's book. It is a full service marina in a beautiful protected setting with access to the state park and Carolina Beach. All for only $30.00 per night. The entrance was a little close but as we came in we saw our friends on Seaya had already found this little jewel. They are in a trawler and we were a day or so ahead of us but had decided to stay here. The marina is excellent and has been totally renovated. We will stay and explore another day and then head out down the infamous Cape Fear River! Part of the Carolina Beach Park

A "Pirate Ship" run aground

A Cape Fear River Sunset