All Smiles After A Short Cruise

Beaufort   

It was a beautiful morning on Town Creek. Bright sun and no wind made for both bearable temperatures and mirrored reflections on the still water. The shrimp boats docked on Radio Island and the Gallants Channel Bridge are usual features in my sunset photo series, but also look pretty good in the daylight. We did a few chores this morning before deciding today was a perfect day to take a short cruise to the pumpout dock. Although nowhere close to the cruising we prefer, after 17 days here in Beaufort it was wonderful to start the engine and pretend. It took almost a half hour to separate and/or stow our 12 fenders, 10 docklines, and power cord. We were out of the slip by 1:00 and taking care of business five minutes later. Town Creek Marina has an excellent pumpout -- ranking in our all-time Top 5. (Crazy little things make cruisers smile.)

We returned to the slip without drama then reconnected all the lines, cords, and fenders. With our spirits lifted we were excited to spend the rest of the afternoon walking Atlantic Beach. A six and a half mile drive took us to our private beach access and to another world. Cresting the dune, the low melody of the surf becomes the only sound. It was just past low tide and we had the wide beach to ourselves. We spotted several interesting shells, a half dollar, a jellyfish, and a sea star at the water's edge. I collected no shells today, but did bring back a few small pieces of driftwood.

We walked for a while then reversed and almost retraced our steps. I say almost because the tide was quickly advancing over our footprints. The gulls had assembled in the tidal pools looking for a snack. Seeing paw prints in the sand, then a scruffy little dog fetching in the surf made me smile. Kudos to the dog's human for her loose take on the leash law. This dog probably had 50-feet of line attached to his collar. It was almost as good as running free. I was enjoying the freedom as well. 

An eerie desolation accompanied us as we travelled back across the ICW. Where was everybody? Days like this are a treat. We ran to West Marine (because we could) looking for some fasteners. A special shout-out to the great ladies at Carteret Vision Center who fixed my eyeglasses without charge. I had lost one of the nosepads and they are now much more comfortable. We again returned to Crossroads just in time to catch the sunset. Mother Nature's presentation of the colors has become an important part of our daily routine.