Day 40

From Peter Ver Ploeg:







We woke up to four fresh inches of snow over everything, business as usual on this trip, and climbed out on deck with a groan to begin digging out. The snow was obviously something special for the people of Oriental, NC, however, who were out in force on this Saturday morning, playing and taking photos of the shrimp boats in the snow.




The morning pee was an awkward affair with the webcam and the morning coffee crowd just across the street. Pete and I both ended up trekking off down the street to a deserted, back alley corner to take care of business. After breakfast I headed over to the coffee shop to get online. There were photos on the wall from last year's Christmas parade. People were in t-shirts. We picked the wrong Winter to travel South.



It was my birthday and Pete and I were both feeling pretty lazy but, we knew we didn't want to spend another night in a town as small and quiet as Oriental, even if it was the "sailing capital of North Carolina." Twenty-five miles away was the larger town of Beaufort which promised a bit of night life. We were on our way by noon.


The highlight of the day came as we exited Core Creek into the bay. In the flat, gray afternoon light, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by a pod of about fifteen dolphins meandering their way upriver in the opposite direction. The dolphins were surfacing and spouting all around, slipping in and out of view, sleek and gray and slippery. In a matter minutes they were passed and disappearing out of sight and we were once again alone with the birds.



A couple miles out of of Beaufort we discovered an inaccuracy in our charts when the boat lurched to a sudden stop, hard aground. I ducked down into the cabin to double check our position. we were right where we should be, in the middle of a narrow, channel. Apparently, some shoaling had occurred since our charts were last updated. Pete hopped into the dinghy to paddle off and set the anchor and we began the laborious process of kedging ourselves off. Once again floating free, we moved further down to try and skirt the shoal. Fifty feet later, we were stuck a second time. Forget this. We gave up on that channel and found a different way into Beaufort.



Beaufort, at first glance did not look too promising for night life, but on the suggestion from a fellow sailor in Oriental, we found our way to the Backstreet Pub. Roaring fire, great bluegrass band and a delicious North Carolina beer called "Duck Rabbit" on special. Everyone seemed to know the band and each other, which made us the interesting, new faces in the crowd. It was Saturday night and my birthday after all so, as sailors do, we kept a low profile, drank responsibly, and went to bed early.