Voyage 2009: Chapter 5

05 Jun 2010, Our first trip to New Bern, 35 06.06 N/ 077 02.3 W

Anchor up at 0738 ET on a nice day at the Bight. Wind out of the SW made for a nice sail to Beaufort. Took about 90 minutes to arrive at the inlet. Current started to flood which was good. Weather was predicted to be unsettled again today. Though the sky was threatening, we did not get wet that day. We hung a left instead of a right as we entered the Neuse River so we could visit New Bern and the crew of SV Endaxi. Four hours later, we were waiting for the opening of the brand new, shiny, bascule bridge over the Trent River. At 1700, the bridge opened and we headed for the A dock t-head and the awaiting Sally and Bob. A quick dinner followed and a early to bed.

Yesterday, the four of us became full fledged tourists and checked out the sites. The town is famous for the Tryon Palace so we got some tickets, took the tours, snapped the pictures, and were really tired at the end of the day. Later that day we headed for Fairfield Harbour to see where some friends had bought a house and check out the marina. The marina had several boats that we knew but nobody was on board; maybe 'cause it was raining (a lot). Of course we had meals out at the local eateries in New Bern.

Today Sally and Ann went early to the Farmers Market while Bob and I were delighted to stay at the marina and mess will our boats. We all then continued our quest as tourists and completed the tour of the historical district. Bob's favorite place was the carriage maker's house. Here we got to talk the wife and daughter of the carriage maker, saw how pickles were made, how the colonialists gossiped, and other neat things. Not bad.

Baltimore had its statues of crabs, Norfolk of mermaids, Vero Beach of turtles, and New Bern of bears. The fiberglass statues are theme painted and displayed throughout the city. This is Ann's favorite one but there are others just as nice. We also found a fire hydrant that symbolized Bev Purdue, the current governor of North Carolina. New Bern is her home town.

07 Jun 2010, New Bern to the Alligator River, 35 40.44 N/ 076 03.43 W

Weather for the next couple of days turned out to be a bit difficult. Yesterday they were calling 15-20 kts SW with gusts up to 30 kts. We were covering a lot of water yesterday (departure at 0608 ET) so we had to motorsail even though it would have been good conditions to sail if we did not have to make nearly 70 nm. The Neuse was good to us this year as this wind was on our stern. Apparent wind was 10 kts with an occasional puff to 15 kts. When we rounded up into the Bay River, we were sailing a close reach. Wind was getting puffier and apparent winds would occasionally top 30 kts. Ann was not happy! As the wind continued to veer, we dropped the sails and continued motoring passed RE Mayo. Sails were back up as we crossed the Pamlico and entered the Pungo River. We entered the breakwater of Belhaven at 1720 and hook down at 1740. We were too tired to dinghy to shore so we ate and went to bed. Did we mention that it was very hot!

Today had a lazy beginning. We had a short day so we slept until 0730 and then slowly got ready for our departure to Deep Point in the Alligator River. Temperature has dropped a bit due to last night's front. Current (over one kt) and wind (NE@15 kts) made for slow progress. Still it is pretty. Bob fueled from the jerry cans while we were in the Pungo canal and changed the oil once we arrived opposite of Deep Point. We are having some problems with the wind generator but decided to use it at the anchorage anyways so that we can keep the batteries charged.