May 17, 2020 - May 22, 2020
We were expecting lots of rain on Sunday because of the approaching tropical storm but it was bright and sunny when we got up. Our stay over day at Wrightsville Beach was consumed with typical chores. We used the loaner car to grocery shop then did laundry, vacuumed, and emptied the solids container. By the time we finished it still hadn’t started to rain, but the wind was quite strong. We closed up the enclosure in the cockpit to protect it from getting too wet if it does start raining.
We got a good hard rain during the night. So much rain came down that the water in the dinghy was ankle deep and needed to be bailed, which is always my job (I like the job, too). We had planned to leave in time to catch the 9:00 am opening of the Wrightsville Swing Bridge but the fuel dock didn’t open until nine and we definitely needed fuel since our next stop will be six days away. The day went fairly well with the weather turning from sunny to cloudy and back again, but no rain. I was fixing lunch in the cabin and right after I filled my cup with tea the boat hit a sand bar with such force that the tea flew off the counter and onto me and I was flung against the hand rail in the galley. Bob used his mad ungrounding skills and got us off after some confusion about the steering (he couldn’t steer but realized he had the auto pilot still on). Again I was ready to call Tow Boat US. A river surveyor happened to be near us and he called and gave Bob instructions on how to find the deep water. Thank goodness! The rest of the day went well and we passed by the last ocean inlet at New River that we have to deal with on this trip. We anchored in Mile Hammock Bay by 4:00 pm. According to Bob’s records this is the eighth time we have anchored here. The Bay is part of Camp Lejeune, the marine training base in NC. Lola rushed out to the cabin top to have a better view of the birds and we relaxed in the cockpit with our happy hour drinks.
As expected it started to rain during the night and was raining steadily when we got up at 6:00 am. Checking my weather AP it looked like the worst rain would be in the morning and we would get a reprieve at noon for a few hours. We decided to leave instead of waiting it out in Mile Hammock Bay. The visibility was impaired by the rain on the front window (no windshield wipers on a sailboat) so we slowed our speed to about 4 knots. Because of our slow progress we knew we wouldn’t make it to our intended anchorage and called ahead to Beaufort Docks Marina to get a slip for the night (we later decided we didn’t want to face the rain predicted for Wednesday and decided to stay two nights). The ICW was pretty tame for most of the day with great channel markers and good depth. It was just frustrating and stressful peering through the front window covered with rain drops. We docked at the marina just after 3:00 pm, registered, closed up the whole enclosure, and settled in for the night. I made pizza for dinner (if only I had a brick pizza oven) and it was great.
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| Of course I had to bail the ankle deep water out of the dinghy before we were on our way this morning. |
The next morning it was still raining. When it slowed down a bit we got showers and wondered what we were going to do for the day. After bailing the dinghy, AGAIN, I sat in the cockpit with Lola for awhile. Our boat neighbors had two terriers and one stared at Lola the whole time she was outside. The owner told me that the dog used to have a cat friend that he played with. I don’t think Lola wanted to make friends. We ordered lunch from Beaufort Grocery Co. We had eaten there on earlier visits and were loved it. Their desserts are particularly delicious. This time Bob had a brisket and provolone sandwich and I had a shrimp Cobb salad. Again we were very impressed with the quality. After that we borrowed the marina car and stopped at the Food Lion for a few groceries and the ABC store for some much needed Tito’s vodka. After the huge lunch we had we really didn’t need dinner so we just relaxed, listening to the rain on the cabin top. After checking the weather we decided to stay another day rather than slog it out in the pouring rain and high winds that were predicted for tomorrow.
Facing another rainy day I decided to complete some cleaning jobs I’d been wanting to do and make a couple more face masks. The weather prediction looked bad for another day and we paid for our fourth night here in Beaufort. We ordered dinner on line from a restaurant right at the end of our pier and I picked it up at 5:00pm.
When we woke up on Friday morning the sun was actually peeking through the clouds and as the day progressed it got sunnier and sunnier.After bailing out the dinghy, AGAIN, I did laundry and we walked around town taking some photographs. We even stopped into some just opened shops (wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing) and purchased a few items. We made preparations to leave the next morning by filling the water tanks and having the marina top off our diesel tank. The weather prediction calls for 50% chance of rain tomorrow, but with little accumulation so we hope the trip won't be too messy.
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| We had passed this meadow filled with black eyed susans the day before, but with the torrential rain I wasn't able to get a photo. |
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| As you can see the meadow is actually the front yard of this stately river front home. It's so much prettier than a manicured lawn and eco friendly, too! |
Stay safe and thank you for reading my blog.
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