Surf City to New Bern, North Carolina

Monday, May 12, 2008, we traveled from Surf City, NC to Beaufort, NC (Bow-fort), a distance of 55nm and a very long 7.7 hours. The day was sunny, but cool and very windy. We missed the 10:30am opening of the Onslow Bridge by 5 minutes and became concerned that the bridge would shut down due to the high winds. At 30mph, this bridge shuts down and we had already seen gusts up to 28 mph! Luckily, the bridge opened for us at 11am and we proceeded past Camp Lejune’s firing range. The lights weren’t flashing, so we could continue on with our cruise.

About 1:30pm, the knot meter showed 30 knot winds from astern on Bogue Sound and there were white caps and spindrift on top of some large waves! TOM-KAT was surfing on the waves and Bob was hand steering to maintain our course. It was an unpleasant ride! As we came past Morehead City and turned up toward Beaufort, we snapped a picture out of the salon window of the turbulent waters. The boat was drenched by saltwater with every wave we hit.

The water was calmer as we approached the Beaufort docks on Taylor Creek, but the winds were still piping. We were hoping for a face dock at the end of a pier, but they were saving those docks for the really “big” boats. The first slip they gave us was impossible to enter because of a large yacht’s anchor sticking into the fairway, so they changed slip assignments and Bob gunned the engine and we roared into the second slip to a round of applause from shoreside onlookers! We always love providing exciting entertainment for the town folk!!

Beaufort, NC is another city that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The homes range from coastal cottages to elaborate Queen Anne Style. The Leffers Cottage (circa 1788) was built by schoolmaster, Samuel Leffers and is described as “a house & a jump” or a one and a half story house.

On Thursday, May 14, we left Beaufort at 8:20am. It was a sunny morning, but cool as we left….only 54 degrees! I dragged out the sweatshirt and long pants again. By noon, we had turned to head up the Neuse River to New Bern, NC. At 2:30pm, we pulled into Northwest Creek Marina and docked next to the “Winnie W”. Doug and Hank met us at the dock and helped us tie up. The last time we had seen the “Winnie W” was last December at Longboat Key on the West Coast of Florida. Our total trip mileage to New Bern is 4610nm.

Kathie and Doug invited us to their home (a 10 minute walk from the boats!) for dinner, where Kathie had made another of their famous Sweet Potato Pies. After a delicious dinner, we had to snap a photo of the Loopers with their Gold Burgee. TOM-KAT flies a white burgee and will only be able to fly the gold burgee when we complete the Loop.

We rode our bikes around Fairfield Harbor, the development in which Doug and Kathie live. Besides the marina, there are many canals and ponds among the beautiful homes and condominiums. I spotted a gorgeous blooming cactus in someone’s front yard and had to take a picture. Blackbeard Sailing Club is also a part of Fairfield Harbor and Kathie and Doug keep their sailboat there. They have some beautiful sailing areas around them on the Neuse River!

Kathie and Doug provided us with rides to the Wal*Mart Supercenter and Food Lion to restock, plus the Hair Salon for a much needed haircut for myself. We were also able to get several loads of laundry done while visiting at their home.

Bob and I joined Kathie and Doug and some of their neighbors for their weekly Thursday night pizza dinner at The Big Apple Restaurant. We, New Yorkers, felt right at home! This nice group of folks made us feel very welcome.

Friday we all went downtown for breakfast at “The Bakery Square” an Amish Restaurant. (That was right after an hour of Aerobics with Kathie at the Community Center!!)Doug then took off for a Sailboat Regatta on the Cape Fear River. Kathie was a wonderful tour guide and showed us around historic New Bern. Our first stop was Tryon Palace. The palace was built in 1767 by the Royal Governor, William Tryon. The palace became North Carolina’s first permanent capitol after the revolution. In 1798 the palace burned, but was rebuilt 150 years later using the original architect plans. Today costumed tour guides will lead you through the palace, as well as the separate kitchen and stable buildings. Beautiful gardens surround the palace, including the Maude Moore Latham Memorial Garden, which is a very formal garden of hedges that outline the flower beds. Statues in the garden depict the four seasons. The picture of the shady path is called “The Pleached Allie” Pleached means intertwined branches to form a hedge. In this case, yaupon has been used to create this arched walkway to the Trent River. We then toured several historic homes as well as the New Bern Academy.

Bob had time to work on the dripping “dripless shaft”. The problem seemed to have fixed itself while we were cruising in saltwater, but now that we’re into brackish water, the dripping has returned. Bob cleaned the shaft under the seal lip with number 600 wet or dry paper. The situation is improved to just an occasional drip now.

While Bob was occupied, Kathie and I rode our bikes 14 miles around Fairfield Harbor. We stopped at several “For Sale” signs and picked up brochures. “Just Looking” to all our friends and family back home!!

On Saturday we all went to the Sheraton marina in New Bern for a “Blessing of the Fleet” by the local Power Squadron. At the marina, we met friends of Doug and Kathie’s on LuSea, a Loop boat. Karl and Lucy were having their boat blessed. We had never been to such a ceremony and it was very moving, with a bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace” and the singing of the Navy Hymn, as well as a laying of a wreath on the Neuse River. After chatting with Karl and Lucy, we walked downtown to the local Farmer’s Market. It’s early for NC veggies and fruits, but we found some wonderful homemade chocolate covered peanuts! We drove past the pharmacy where in the late 1800’s, the pharmacist invented the syrup that later became known as Pepsi-Cola!

Later in the day we introduced Kathie to Ann & George on “Incentive”. They were docked in New Bern at the BridgePointe Marina, so we met them for dinner and a tour of the cottages that they’d recently purchased along the shore of the Neuse River.

Sunday night, we attended a concert by the Craven County Community Band on the grounds of the Tryon Palace. The Thursday night pizza group met before the concert for a picnic supper of chicken, potato salad and cole slaw. I made some chocolate chip cookies and brownies for dessert.

As always when boating, plans change quickly. We had planned to leave Monday morning to continue our journey northward, but the weather held us in port. We checked on weekly rates at the marina and discovered that we had already paid the weekly rate, so Monday and Tuesday were “free days”.

Monday, I went to another early morning aerobics class with Kathie and then was able to wash another load of laundry. In the afternoon, Doug and Kathie brought over their outboard engine from their sailboat and tried it on their dinghy. It worked GREAT! On Tuesday, this storm came through the marina area. There were tornado warnings around, so we kept a close watch on the sky. We have never seen such dark skies before!!

We reluctantly left Northwest Creek Marina and New Bern on Wednesday morning, May 21, 2008 at 7am. It was a beautiful morning and Northwest Creek was very peaceful. Thank you, Doug and Kathie for a wonderful visit!!

Fair Winds and Calm Seas,

Sue and Bob