Day Eight

We rose early (but not too bright), Wednesday morning, had a quick breakfast of cereal and fresh strawberries, and were backing out of our slip by 0630. This presented more of a challenge than I would have preferred as the wind was blowing up the channel on our beam and tended to push me into the bulkhead. I ended up passing a line from our stern quarter to a helpful soul on shore. We then kedged ourselves slowly out of the slip and were soon on our way up the Neuse, motorsailing with the jib and a SW wind. We made good time down the Neuse River, past Bay River and up the Hobucken Cut.

Several shrimp boats parked on the starboard side had "for sale" signs on them. These folks are getting killed by the cheap farm-raised shrimp.

Here is a shot of the small Coastguard Station at Hobucken. Little did I supsect I'd soon have need of their services....

Here is a shrimp boat working on the Bay River.

We then went up through Goose Creek and hit the Pamlico River. crossing by 1100. Winds were picking up and we had a 2 foot chop, but we crossed with no problems, and headed up the Pungo River. As we turned into the mouth of the Pungo we passed Jock and Elana Muir exiting the river southbound heading toward Bath. We exchanged greetings via VHF, and we continued up the Pungo.

We reached Dowry Creek Marina around noon and easily tied up in slip 33. The wind continued to pick up over the afternoon until it was really howling. We were very glad that we had made our break early. I was disapointed to find that Dowry Creek does not have wireless internet. This was the first marina on our voyage that did not have internet . It shifts my preference in Belhaven to favor River Forest Marina as I believe that access to the internet gives a major safety edge to cruisers. You can not only check the various weather forecasts for your route, but can also view current weather radar.

We spent a good part of the afternoon washing the salt spray off the boat. We then relaxed and watched the other boaters. A small but interesting aside - when I went to drop off our trash at the marina's containers. when I looked down into the can, there was a female possum lounging in the bottom of the can. You could see a very small baby possum in the mother's pouch. I wish I'd thought to go get my camera.

It was soon dinner time on the Gourmet Cruise. For this night's dinner we prepared a chicken sate with peanut sauce, and farfalle pasta with sauted peppers and onions.