To my great surprise, the anchor came up clean this morning. I was prepared for it to be covered with the same dense black mud that we walked through yesterday. We exited out of Beaufort by passing alongside fishing boats and then under the bridge connecting it to Morehead City. Derelict boats were a common sight, most likely victims of last fall's Hurricane Florence.
Yesterday, the wind whipped our in-progress Loop burgee nonstop with gusts up to 30 knots. Once underway, we noticed that it now has several large frayed spots. Good thing it only needs to last another week. Once we cross our wake, we earn a new gold burgee signifying that we've completed the Loop. We joined the parade of trawlers heading up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and passed the 200 mile marker sign showing the distance to the start of the ICW in Norfolk. A slight breeze on our stern was cancelled out by our forward progress, creating a hot afternoon stretch with seemingly no breeze. A few dolphin were swimming through the Neuse River. A large dragonfly hitched a ride with us for a few minutes. We were also welcomed to the ICW by the notorious green-headed flies. Swatting those monsters kept us occupied. Otherwise, this stretch of waterway was rather boring today. Pine trees lined the shores on both sides.
A few areas of marshgrass brought a brief change of scenery. The Pamlico River, which can be rough and uncomfortable, was flat and glassy. As we neared Belhaven we encountered several sailboats giving it their best shot in a 3 knot breeze. The spinnaker helped a little, but it was very slow going.
We pulled in behind the breakwater in Belhaven and dropped the anchor. Barry grilled our last grouper filet for dinner. The sun set off our stern and the full moon rose over the bow to close out a nice, uneventful day on the water.
No comments:
Post a Comment