We woke up to calm winds, calm water, and beautiful sunshine.  We are refreshed and ready to to Belhaven, NC.  Crew from the s/v Sheba Moon helped with our lines.  We appreciate any and all help.

One interesting side note for this Loop trip is learning geography just a bit better than I knew it before.  Actually, a lot better.  When I told my sibling I was in Oriental, NC , he said, “I don’t know where that is.”  “Near the coast…since we are in a boat.”  “Ah…. makes sense.”  I know this won’t make it any simpler, but this is the route for today.  If you need more information, look it up!  Google knows everything!

We are going from large river through a small canal to large river again.  The Pamlico River is the first of 3 large rivers we will need to navigate in the next several days.  The Marine forecast mentions the River’s conditions.  Sentences like :  winds 10-15 knots. Waves 2-3ft.  That sounds doable.  Unless you are in a boat bobbing up and down in those 2-3 ft waves.  Luckily, for today, the winds and water demons are playing somewhere else.  We are expecting “light chop”.   We don’t know, yet, what “light chop” means.  Versus “Moderate chop”.  All these very technical nautical terms.  😉

Wave hello to the first barge of the day.  Are they waving back?

 

A plague to many recreational boaters or cruisers are crab pots.  Not the cages, per se. Floating markers that act as buoys.   They are difficult to see and sometimes stray into our channel.  I have mentioned it before having the rope from the markers get tied up in our propellers would be a bad thing to happen.   There are at least a dozen in the picture.  But not all of the little white / orange dots are crab pot markers.  Some are birds!  How do we know the difference?  We don’t until we either get closer or they up and fly away!

 

As we rounded a corner in the Bay River Inlet, I saw this house all by itself.  It looks like an early homestead with the outbuildings, boats, and trees in the right places.  The only thing missing is laundry flapping in the breeze.  Almost picture perfect.  A pristine setting.

At the intersection of the ICW and Jones Bay, we may expect “strong current”.  Just had to get a picture of that.  Ok, by the charts, it looked more imposing.  By the maps, it is at the front of Jones Bay that eventually opens up into a larger body of water.

 

Near this intersection of Jones Bay and the ICW we see a small boat with blue flashing lights coming toward us.  “What did you do, Wayne?”  “I didn’t do anything!”.  Right.  We all get nervous when you see lights flashing.  This boat looked like it had several young people.  Coast Guard Boat.  They waved.  We waved.  We don’t know if they were racing off to help locate the “inner tube with 2 people on it lost off the coast” or just racing for donuts.  BTW – the 2 people were found and everything is ok said the USCG broadcast a few minutes later.   The second thing we were wondering was where did these guys come from?

 

I found the stumps I was looking for…

 

Hobucken Bridge is just up ahead.  No problem for us this morning since it is over 60ft tall.  Yes, there are people here near the bridge.  Or just empty chairs holding fishing poles. What do the chairs do if a fish bites?  I know there is a smart aleck answer for this question.  Anyone?

 

Maybe someone working at this place will have a clue.  Seems like a pretty big operations in the middle of a canal.  Whom do they service?

Of course they do!!  Fishing Boats!!  Nice looking ones.

 

Right after the bridge is the Hobucken Coast Guard Station!!  This has got to be the place where that CG boat came from.

 

When we entered the Pamlico Sound we saw this nice looking sail boat going south.  Double mast.  Too bad it didn’t have all its sails up.  Nice looking classic boat.  We were actually surprised to see sail boats heading south.  More so than heading north.  Wonder where they are going?  Bahamas?  Cuba?  Or where ever the wind takes them?

 

We were early getting to the marina for the night.  No problems docking with little wind and little current.  Right off the Pungo River is the Dowry Creek Marina in Belhaven, NC.  Belhaven was having a Buccaneer Festival and we missed it.  This marina is far more quiet and to our liking.  What about this view?

We were early enough so that we could run a couple of quick errands in town.  We borrowed the courtesy car for our quick trip.  Wayne had to initial a waver stating that he would not run over or into any deer or bear on the way to town.  Seriously.

The owner told me that the “windows don’t work but the AC does”.  Well, when you borrow a “courtesy car” sometimes they aren’t the best in the world.  At least the floorboard was solid.  The car shook and rattled.  The outside temperatures we approaching 85°F which meant the inside of the car was over 90°F.  The windows didn’t work.  Wayne asked me to open my car door to get some air since the AC really didn’t work but he didn’t really want to risk me falling out. 😉  I am the “navigator” and he might get lost in the Atlantic without me.

Wayne kept fiddling with the nobs hoping to make them work.  The oil light was on.  The brake light was on – Wayne pulled the brake release 3 times but the light never went out.  As I chuckled about the car, I didn’t want to miss seeing the area around Belhaven.  It looks mostly agricultural.  Fields planted or waiting to plant.  Acres and space between houses.  Rural and quiet.

 

This marina also has a swimming pool.  A boaters lounge with a pool table.  The Husband and Wife owners host a “get together” most nights in the boaters lounge.  Bring your own liquid refreshment and some kind of snack to share, if you can.

We enjoyed meeting the other boaters that had docked throughout the afternoon. I missed the sunset picture.  This is good, though.