Beaufort and Morehead City are sister-cities that lie on either side of the approach to Beaufort Inlet, one of only two reliable deep water inlets on the North Carolina Coast. (The other is the mouth of the Cape Fear River.) We had bypassed Beaufort on our way south in 1993 because it would have required a detour off the ICW, which passes instead through Morehead City. But we had read about the charm of Beaufort and its history as an old seaside resort, how its waterfront area had been restored, how it had become a hub for local, coastal and world-class blue-water cruisers, and we eagerly anticipated the opportunity to spend some time there. We were not disappointed. The five days that we stayed at Beaufort were the highlight of the entire cruise north.
However, since our stay in Beaufort was one of our typical "shore leaves," it was busy with errands and boating chores that become necessary when cruising. Summer School was encrusted with salt and covered with mud left over from our anchoring. One of the first things we did was to thoroughly wash and clean our boat inside and out, including the bilge. It was also time to carefully inspect both the generator and the engine, and to change oils and filters (we were carrying the necessary supplies). We did not need to take on diesel fuel but we did need to fill our 150-gallon water tanks that had become nearly empty. We found that there was a laundry facility just across the street from the marina, which made it especially convenient to wash our clothes, most of which were dirty by this time. To our great delight the marina also provided a courtesy car for boaters to use, which made it easy to do a major reprovisioning of food and other supplies at the various stores and supermarkets located six to ten blocks from the waterfront along Highway 70. It seemed to us that Beaufort Docks made special efforts to provide convenient services for its patrons.
Interspersed with our necessary boating activities we of course took time to explore the town and become acquainted with its attractions. The Beaufort waterfront, including Beaufort Docks, some restaurants and other marine facilities, lies along the southern side of Front Street and looks out over Taylor Creek where we found many boats to be anchored, both cruising boats and what appeared to be local boats on moorings. The other side of Taylor Creek is bounded by Carrot Island and Town Marsh. These areas are undeveloped and protected. We had read about the herd of wild horses that inhabited Carrot Island and we were thrilled when we awoke on our first morning, looked out over Taylor Creek and saw some of these horses wandering along the beach. We took several extensive walks through the central area of town, known as the downtown historic district. The shady streets were lined with elegant old houses, which reminded us of Cape May, New Jersey where Nancy and I began our boating experiences. We visited the Beaufort Historical Society Museum on Turner Street, and the North Carolina Maritime Museum. On Monday, July 3, we even took our eight foot inflatable dinghy, Recess, across Taylor Creek for a picnic on a beautiful small beach on the inlet side of the island. On our way back to our boat we were lucky enough to have a close view of one of the wild horses on the beach.
Although we stayed in Beaufort for five days we knew we were only able to obtain a passing acquaintance with some of the highlights of the town. There were many more restaurants to try and many more facilities to explore in depth. But we had to continue our cruise north without lingering too long. We left early on the morning of July 5, never dreaming that in less than a year and half we would return to live on our boat in this interesting and charming town.
After our Beaufort interlude we again pressed to the northward trying to make as rapid progress as we could. We traveled for eight consecutive days, most of the time anchoring at night, staying in marinas only at Coinjock, North Carolina, where we filled our diesel fuel tanks, and Portsmouth, Virginia, Mile Zero of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. There were no more "shore leaves." We were lucky enough to cover the entire 250 miles from Portsmouth, through the length of Chesapeake Bay and through most of the C&D Canal in four days with no delays due to weather or equipment problems.
We arrived at Summit North Marina at about 10:30am on Wednesday, July 12, went to the fuel dock to fill our tanks once again, and met Doug, the dockmaster. There seemed to be many empty slips. Everything looked good, we told him, except the entrance channel where we had read a depth of only six feet even though we came in at high tide. He explained that there had been a delay in the dredging operation, but that it was soon to be resumed. We thought it unlikely that we would be taking out the boat in the near future anyway so we agreed to take a slip. I met Rick Keener, the new marina manager, and signed the papers for a year's lease. Doug helped us into our chosen slip where docking was particularly easy due to the floating docks and full-length finger pier, just as advertised. We were immensely pleased and greatly relieved to be there. We had found a new permanent home for Summer School. Or so we thought.
**********
No comments:
Post a Comment