To Beaufort NC

To Beautiful Beaufort (Bow – FORT) NC!

Our departure from Southport was delayed by a winter storm that included gusts in high numbers with very low temps and lots of rain.  We chose to pass on Bald Head Island since biking around would be damp to say the least. We made a visit to the compact Southport Maritime Museum – one of three in North Carolina. This one emphasized blockade runners. Our tour guide (from NYC) gave us the full scoop on the area’s ship building history and the booty recovered from the Houston – a ship that went down off Cape Fear over a hundred years ago.  The divers who recovered the treasures, (including numerous porcelain dolls bound for Christmas presents in Galveston and a set of silver which was part of a young girl’s dowry), used their find to start a museum that became the one we visited! For a lunch treat on the rainy day we stopped by chance at the Taylor Cafe on N. Howe street.  The walls were covered with every food network personality you can name. The chef/owner Karen Taylor is pictured with them all, and the food is worthy of her fame. We highly recommend the place - but figure it has already been discovered.  We could not pass up taking a piece of the signature sweet potato cheese cake home. Before we left Southport, we finally met Vaughan and Sharon on Valhalla, a power boat that we have been leapfrogging for several weeks, but we have never tied to the same dock at the same time. They spent several hours with us providing advice on stopovers since they keep their power boat in New Bern, NC and their sailboat in New England. It was nice to finally put faces and smiles to the voices we had been hearing on the radio as we contact bridges along the way.

 

From Southport we moved on to Wrightsville Beach where we anchored in Motts Channel a quiet spot with just us and two catamarans, two sailboats and a few cruising speed boats to make waves.  Although this was an easy place to get off, we stayed put since the temps were freezing and the sky overcast. However, we were visited by a fellow Krogenite, Mike Malpass, who found us using the Krogen Finder App that he developed.  We were delighted to meet him and his grandson so we could thank him for the app that lets us keep track of our Krogen friends. Since he keeps his boat in this area, he also had lots of interesting observations about what we might do as we head north. The next morning we pulled the anchor at an early hour for us retirees to make the 8 AM bridge in Wrightsville Beach – our first of three that day with very limited openings.  As we came up to the bridge another boat that we have seen from afar for about  month pulled in behind us.  Steve chatted with Captain Rod for about an hour, and they decided since we both planned to anchor in Mile Hammock Bay behind Camp Lejuene we would meet that evening.  Rod and Pauline arrived on our swim platform with snacks, beverages and hugs and helped us while away our evening.  As Golden Loopers, they generously shared their ideas on a wide range of topics from locking techniques to finding cheap diesel, and even free navigation software links. Rod and Pauline completed the loop over several years since as Aussies they had to contend with visa restrictions requiring them to leave the US every 6 months. Listening to their stories of the best places to visit, we are finding it hard to choose our upcoming stops.  Another bonus to our Saturday was the blessing of the fleet parade we stumbled into infront of Harbor Beach Village Marina.  Although we were not officially in the parade, the officiant was kind enough to bless us as we passed. We have no idea what denomination he represented, but felt much safer and honored to have been included in the ritual. So, if you wonder how we are doing, just picture us cruising along mostly placid waterways and meeting friendly folk at every turn. (TO further prove this point: Little more than 10 minutes after we docked here in Beaufort, a man dashed down the dock to greet us since he had seen our looper flag. He too is doing the loop – again in segments – since the poor dear is still working. He lives here in Beaufort and wanted to welcome us and say hello. Then, a former Krogen owner strolled over a few minutes ago to admire our boat, again offering advice on the best places to stop in the Chesapeake, his home territory… Oh, did I mention that for the last few hours we have been entertained by the live free music performance coming from the dock? The singer deserves a big tip both for his wide repertoire and fine voice. Not a tough job this.  More on Beaufort, NC to come... they have a maritime museum here too!