Stepping across the line

With a flooding tide pushing us inland, we departed Beaufort and heading north towards Oriental, NC.  Anne and I have on multiple occasions hauled out at Bock Marine.  We have never traveled north of the Hwy 101 bridge along core Creek.  To our knowledge C’est la Vie has also never ventured this far north.  Well today we are stepping over the line.  The image included is of me at the helm just before passing under the hwy 101 Bridge.

While the remainder of our travels to Oriental passed uneventfully, we did continue to find excitement in not quite knowing what was up around the next bend in the river.

Sunshine arrives on schedule

On schedule and in fine style, MV-Sunshine and her crew arrive in Beaufort, NC in time for a late lunch.    With the Lovett’s now in port it is time to start prepping for C’est la Vie to get back underway.

Life in the anchorage

We are setting on two anchors, Bahamian Moor, at the west end of Taylor’s Creek.  To the east of us (the view in the image above) the anchorage is crowded with numerous boats taking up permanent residence on mooring balls.

Looking to our west we see the entrance to Taylors’s Creek and the Duke Marine Lab.  The marine lab runs a 24/7 web cam of the area – here is a link to the web cam.

To our north is the quaint, touristy Beaufort Downtown area.  It is a great area for tourists and cruisers alike.  Not to be missed is the NC Maritime Museum and adjacent wooden boat works.  The southern shore of Taylors Creek is formed by a series of low islands that make up the Rachael Carson National Estuarine Sanctuary.  From our anchorage we can row Origami or swim over to the island and walk on the beach.  Like many islands along the Outerbanks the Racheal Carson Sanctuary is home to a population of wild horses (see image below).

Other than the high volume of traffic, primarily from local tour boats and transient vessels, there are no complaints about our current residence.

Life about town

Coffee shops; internet access; laundry; dinner with friends; boat maintenance; easing back into Outward Bound work; porch time with locals… Anne and I are adapting to life about town here in Beaufort. 

Our plan is to spend a couple more days here to provide me with an opportunity to focus some time on Outward Bound staffing and calendar for our next season in Florida. 

The Lovett’s are due to arrive in their Trawler, Sunshine, on Friday.  We then plan to travel together for about a week.  We will likely head up to Oriental, Ocracoke, and beyond?   

Morning showers make for lousy sleeping but great photos

The early morning, pre-dawn, showers and some no-see-ums robbed us of a good night’s sleep.  As dawn broke the breeze returned and the scattered showers provided an amazing show.  

In light winds we motored out of Lookout Bight.  Once in the Atlantic we raised the main in hopes of providing some resistance to the rolling ocean swell.

By midday we were on the hook in Taylor’s Creek and waving goodbye to Trish.  Tired from a busy couple days ashore, hosting a boat guest, and a lack of sleep, Anne and I spend the rest of the day lounging about C’est la Vie.

An overnight trip to Cape Lookout

Our first couple of days in Beaufort were a blur of reuniting with friends; morning visits to coffee shops; a road trip to survey a sail boat with Trish; and ticking some things off the to-do list.  After two days tied to the Beaufort City Docks we were ready to escape the noise, congestion, and hustle.   With Trish as crew we caught the ebbing tide out Beaufort Inlet and took advantage of some wonderful 15 knot south winds.  The 15NM from Beaufort to Cape Lookout Bight passed quickly with each of us taking a turn at the helm.

 

Once the anchor hit the bottom we literally jumped into swimming mode.  The clear, salt waters buoyed our spirits and we spent over an hour inventing new wet exit techniques off C’est la Vie.

The remainder of the day passed blissfully in the bight… naps, reading, swimming to shore for beach exploration, beers, dinner, speed scrabble, and early to bed.