This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)
cruising adventures on the Great Loop!
DAY 33 - May 3, 2017
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| 1000 Miles! |
Today was a milestone day on our Great Loop, for two reasons! First, just outside of Belhaven, the trip odometer turned over 1,000 miles- fully 1/6th of the miles we are planning to travel! Second we crossed one of the dreaded open water bodies on the Great Loop - Pamlico Sound. It turns out you don't "cross" it so much as go around it on creeks and rivers! There is only a little bit of Pamlico Sound that you actually cross on the ICW. Still, it was not all a smooth trip. We left Oriental on the Neuse River, the same river that had knocked our fillings out coming into Oriental. It still is a shallow river with a long fetch, so there was a bit of bouncing going on! The Neuse River put us on a number of other creeks that were pretty well protected. Then Goose Creek dumped us into the Pamlico River, which empties into Pamlico Sound, and we were bouncing once again until we got well inside the Pungo River for the final few miles to Belhaven! All the people with whom we had "docktails" in Oriental were at the Belhaven Marina. We are not mostly marina people, so we did not get a chance to review notes with them about their plans for tomorrow! We once again consulted Active Captain to find a suitable anchorage in Belhaven, with the chief criterion being easy shore access for Baxter duty!
We chose Belhaven 3 from Active Captain, which is right out in front of the City Boat Ramp. Based on the reviews of Belhaven ("It has a teriffic hardware store"), we did not feel any desire to explore the town! I took Baxter in and we walked around a little bit, and I think we saw most of the town from the end of the boat ramp parking lot! There was a restroom in the parking lot, the Scout Shack and the Fire Station right in front of the parking lot, and a historic rail car on display, which could have been the Chamber of Commerce office, but I didn't go over to see.
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| Two birds - what are they, Bill? |
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| Beaucoupe birds! |
Right out in front of the boat ramp in the water was a dilapidated pier, which had become home to beau coupe birds, who serenaded us all evening! A few people launched their small boats to go out fishing, and most returned after an hour or so. This boat ramp makes a quick after work fishing trip! We had drinks and dinner, then turned our attention to the weather for the next couple of days, which does not look good tomorrow for the Albermarle crossing, and to identifying a place to wait out the weather, which is supposed to turn good on Saturday! This one is a direct crossing, and we really want to do this one in the most favorable conditions!
There was a lovely sunset at Belhaven too!
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| Lucy Loves to be Petted! |
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| Lucy's Morning Spot |
Charlie wanted more pet pictures, so here they are! Lucy is sitting beside me as I type this. She comes out in the morning and evening to get petted. Every morning when I get up, she is sitting on the forward passenger seat cushion back. Tonight she came out while we were on the cockpit, contemplating whether to venture out or not, but in the end, she decided to go back inside. This is good! There are old cats and bold cats, but no old bold cats!
HI, I haven't said hello before but you are in my neck of the waterways. Seaweed lives up the Pamlico River in Little Washington. We hosted Casey and Mary when they came thru a couple of years ago. I was going to invite you but with your stop in Swansboro, I knew you wanted to catch up and make a move up north. You're wise to watch the Albemarle. But Saturday looks good. I am following you but for some reason, the blog is not reaching my email. I have tried two different ones and confirmed both. Keep on posting, we enjoy your stories. Paul and Ruth Cyr, Seaweed, CD 25
ReplyDeleteYes, we would have loved to have a chance to meet you! Not to be, you are right after three days in Swansboro, our engine service accomplished, we bade adieu to Benton and Ann Blalock, who are really fine people, have you met them?
DeleteSo nice to see Lucy at long last! Hope you'll bring her ashore to stay in your big room while you're at our place, she deserves a break too. We'll even provide her a cat box, we have extra! Baxter is welcome too! We have plenty of room for him to run around outside.
ReplyDeleteOnce you get across Albemarle Sound to the ICW, it will be smooth sailing to Norfolk with plenty of places to stop, Norfolk/Portsmouth is nice and you can wait for good weather to head North. We're about 100 miles up the Bay.
Safe travels!
Charlie and Sally
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DeleteWe are at Pungo Ferry Bridge in Virginia
DeleteCity tonight, probably Hampton Roads tomorrow at a marina, then on to see you guys! We cruised the Chesapeake in 2005 but will really enjoy seeing it again!