Beaufort, NC

The morning of Monday, May 14 started with Robbie swabbing the decks because the anchor was mired in mud. His presence is making the job of the regular first mate much easier!

We left our anchorage earlier than usual in order to make the 7 a.m. opening of the swing bridge in Camp LeJeune. Unfortunately, our planning was off a bit and the bridge tender was not willing to stretch the rules. We hovered with another unlucky soul for a half hour waiting for the next opening.

Another day of pleasant weather for cruising brought us past some lovely shoreline areas that were not overly developed.  

As we passed by the busier Morehead City area we saw lots more shops, barges and fishing boats. Particularly interesting were two large cargo ships loaded with windmill propellers. It was a cool sight!

When we arrived at the Beaufort Docks, a private marina, we tied up next to some beautiful vessels. 

Then we each set to work on the many boat chores that always need to get done.  Washing down the boat, doing laundry and working our way through the endless “to do” list kept us busy for a few hours.  We picked up a number of items that we had shipped to this marina including large hand-me-down fenders from an MTOA friend that will be very helpful as we go through the many locks during this voyage.

 We also got our new Zendo sign which we hung on the rear transom.  Now that we are using our davits to carry the  new dinghy, our boat name is obscured which is a problem when other boats want to hail us on the radio. Problem solved!

Afterwards, it was time for a reward so we used the wooden nickels provided by our marina to get free beers at a local bar.  From there we strolled around town where we visited the historic cemetery (which wasn’t quite as pretty as the last time we visited when all the azaleas were in bloom).  The cemetery is interesting because it goes back to pre-revolutionary times.  The gravestones look as if they have been cleaned and well-maintained and we could easily read the inscriptions. Many civil war soldiers were buried here and particularly noteworthy is the fact that both blacks and whites have found their final resting place here. 

From there, we strolled through some of the neighborhoods where there were several homes with interesting gingerbread trim and historic plaques. 

Returning to Zendo by way of the shoreline road, we passed some very gracious homes that had beautiful waterfront views.

That evening we had a typical seafood dinner at Clawson’s, a popular local restaurant located on the main drag across from the marina. Robbie had his first taste of that Southern favorite, shrimp and grits. He liked it!