Day 314, Friday May 2nd, An uneventful trip to Beaufort

Day 314, Friday May 2^nd, An uneventful trip to Beaufort

We are up early as there is a possibility the ICW will be shut for live fire practice by the Marines so Active Captain recommends you head out by 7:30.  There is a swing bridge about 30 mins up the waterway so we want to time our arrival for 7:30 so we start to up anchor at 15 minutes to 7.  Good thing we did as it is a full 17 mins to get the anchor on board due to muck on the chain and anchor.  We now have to push to make the bridge.  Just as we enter the waterway from the anchorage we meet a catamaran named Rollick who we had last seen in Georgetown.  This cruising is a world of re-meeting boats as you travel.

Abandoned military stuff

We enjoy a very uneventful trip as we motor sail along the waterway.  It is quite scenic, with lots of things to see.  At one point we pass some tidal marshes where a number of old armoured personnel carriers have been strewn around so the marines have an artificial battle field to train on.  It is scenic but it takes a long time to get somewhere, we both referred to the metaphor of “it’s like driving on the I75 at 5 mph”.  When we come down again it will be via a series of ocean hops.  By 1:00 pm we enter the harbour for Beaufort and Morehead City, lots of boat traffic.  We are to meet up with Bruce of Mamba here so based on his recommendation we have taken a slip at the Nautical Maritime Museum docks for $1/foot.  We could not have timed our arrival at Beaufort better if we had planned it as it is slack water as we enter the creek up to Beaufort, there is a strong current on the ebb and flood, and we arrive at the drawbridge at 12:55 for its 1 o’clock  opening.   By 1:15 we are tied up alongside Mamba.  We have beer with Bruce and get the lay of the land from him. 

Beaufort fishing fleet

Based on his advice we drop the dinghy in the water and take our “wheels” into downtown Beaufort.  Beaufort is a “quaint” little fishing/tourist town.  It also turns out to be a good weekend to arrive as it is the 40^th Annual Beaufort Wooden Boat show.  The 1^st event is a kickoff party at the Nautical Museum’s Boat Shed which starts at 5:30 and features all the Wings and Rings you can eat along with Beer and Wine all for the low price of $10 each.  We sign up and tour Beaufort as we wait for the Wings and Rings.  By 5 o’clock we have had a good look around Beaufort having seen a lot as well as done the recon to enable us to plan for tomorrow.  As the Wings and Rings won’t be ready for a half hour we head over to the Beaufort Coffee house.

At 5:30 we are back at the boat shed, get our wrist bands and are all set for dinner.  The shed is quite neat itself and is used by the museum to put on boat building classes.  We arm ourselves with a beer and a glass of wine and then head over to the wings and rings.  They are good but being all you can eat we eat too many, oh well at least we have a vegetable with our meal.   We meet some people and then see that there is a ship in a bottle display complete with a craftsman giving demonstrations.  We decide we have found our new hobby.   Around 8 the party starts to clear out and we make our way back to the boat after what we consider a long day. 

Bruce and Dawson

We are just on our 1^st cup of coffee when Bruce and Colleen knock on the hull and ask if we want to come into town for drink, so we are off.  It turns out that the coffee house we stopped at during the day becomes a busy wine bar in the evening so we are back there for our second time.  We meet quite a number of Bruce and Colleen’s friends, Bruce having 1^st come through in the 80’s during his first trip south.  By 10:30 we are both worn out and Bruce gives us a ride back to the boat, 10:30 is a full hour and half after boaters midnight.  We pile off to bed with our plans of enjoying the 40^th annual Wooden Boat show in our head.

Cheers

Dawson and Julie