Logs and Old Friend

Pamlico 2016    May 6    
Day 3



I awoke, took a bird bath at the new boater restroom facility and grabbed a few pics of the sunrise.

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The Bean continues to be THE meeting place for Oriental. Small but comfortable it is a sailors dream.... coffee, warm and dry easy chairs, battery recharging plugs, and welcoming people interested in you and your stories. Even with everything still soaked from the rains, streets flooded and the skies suggested more of the same, the small coffeehouse filled up with regulars. I slipped in and sat with Keith, the 'guru' of TownDock.com, recollecting the first time we met 5 years ago. He no longer provides his subscription wifi to the boating community, but most everything else seemed about the same. To me that is a good thing.

I was ready to move on. Stored the damp cockpit cover, tidied up and cast off. A brisk broad reach across the Neuse led into Adams Creek and the cut south to Beaufort. Motor sailing, the engine ran well and it was a nice early morning slog with only the occasional log to navigate.

I was in awe of the weather. Clouds continue to thicken and race by. Patches of sun would break through only to disappear in a second. As the cut opened into the Newport River and continued into Gallant Channel to port, I was admittedly happy that another downpour stayed away.

I discovered upon entering the Beaufort waterfront that the folks at the North Carolina Maritime Museum were preparing for their annual Wooden Boat Show. While talking with volunteers I ran into my old friend designer John Marples who had come down from Maine with his wife Robin to represent Wooden Boat Magazine. He came aboard Annie and we talked about everything and everybody. I was also fortunate to have a 'pre-game' behind-the-scenes tour with Paul Fontenoy, curator of Maritime History. It was nice to exchange curatorial small talk with someone who shared many of my own experiences.

After leaving Beaufort in the late afternoon, 'we' continued east toward Harkers Island, anchoring behind a grove of trees lining the shore. Drying out the cockpit cover I supped on Mountain House beef stroganoff. It was nice to again be alone with my boat.

23 kt miles, 4.1 average, 7.1 max