Author: tim.june.sndr@hotmail.com

After a month and a half waiting out hurricanes, enjoying the small town feel and making  new friends, we have finally left New Bern.  I can see why so many boaters stop for a short respite and then end up buying a home and never leaving.  Our final week was spent on Dr. appointments, prepping the boat, and visiting with friends.  We went on a Kitchen Tour and enjoyed the local nightlife at the Octoberfest.  On the 4th, we rented a car and drove to Norfolk to drop Tim’s truck off at Atlantic Yacht Basin, our winter marina.

We timed our departure with the 7:30 opening of the Alfred A Cunningham Bridge and began our 3 day trek north.  I doubt we could have asked for better weather than what we had.  The air was cool, but very comfortable and the water was nearly perfect.  The wide Neuse River had a slight chop from the 6-7 knot breeze.   As we head north, there has been a fairly steady stream of boats going south.  South is certainly the preferred direction this time of year.  I find myself wondering if they think we’re lost or crazy to be going against the flow.  Oh well.  I like not following the crowd, besides we have a different plan in mind.  Having been at a dock far too long for my taste, we decided to spend our first night at anchor.  We cruised about 80 miles, dropping anchor around 5:30 just west of Belhaven and Dowry Creek at the Scranton Creek Mouth.  We had the spot to ourselves although we could see a few boats at other anchorages nearby.  A couple dolphin swam by once we got settled to check out the newcomers.

As the moon set and the sun rose, Tim pulled anchor and we set off for Coinjock.  Again, we had excellent weather and a long day of cruising.  We pulled into Coinjock around 5:30.  We’ve been told by multiple cruisers that if we stop at Coinjock we HAVE TO have their famous prime rib.  Obviously since it had been mandated, we did.  We had a choice between a 16 pounder or a whopping 32 pounder.  I think we both brought back half of our 16 pound monstrosity.  But, it was yummy and Tim added some to our egg burrito for breakfast.

Since we have a short run today, we slept in and headed north around 9:30.  We’ve had a couple of “huh??” moments on this leg of our trip.  One is we keep seeing dark gray to black painted john boats.  We’d wondered why anyone would paint their boat such a dark color.  We found out last night when we looked inside one docked at Coinjock.  The bow of the boat was filled with duck decoys and the stern had freshly cut pine boughs in it.  “Ah ha” we both said.  This is duck country and this is the season.  We have passed some duck blinds in the river and it all came together for us.  The other big ??? are these netted off areas along side the ICW.  A cluster of poles seem to support a large net that drapes into the water.  We think they are holding pens for something.  Crabs maybe.

The rest of the trip into Norfolk was pretty uneventful.  A couple of bridges to have opened, but just another day of wonderful cruising.  We are now at Atlantic Yacht Basin doing chores and we’ll try to get some sight seeing in this afternoon.  Tomorrow we will head to Hampton for a short trip that will make our run on Tuesday easier.  We’ll be going to Bridges Marina in Urbana to spend a week with friends Tom and Doris Sanders.  See you there!

Yes, we are still here.  Irma, Jose and now Maria.  It seems like the storms keep poking their noses this way.  Luckily they have just threatened us and have not come to visit.  Today is the day we were supposed to start feeling the effects of Jose and yet it’s really pleasant here in New Bern.  That tells me a couple of things.  1.- Jose didn’t come nearly as close to NC as originally projected.  2.- New Bern is a great place to be when a storm does hit.  We are 20+ miles up the Neuse River from the Outer Banks and that gives us good protection.   Tim just told me that several boats from Ocracoke (south of Hatteras on the Outer Banks) have moved into the marina, out of the path of the storms.  To move north, we’d have to go out into more open waters.  We need to cross the Pamlico River, run up the Alligator River and then on to the huge Albemarle Sound.  The Albemarle is relatively shallow and in a west wind can kick up some nastiness that we prefer to avoid.  So, here we stay, waiting out the alphabet of storms.

Since it looks like we’ll be at New Bern Grand Marina for a while, we’re making our selves right at home.  The other cruisers have some great traditions and we’ve enjoyed joining in.  There’s the Taco Tuesday dinner at the Prohibition Grill.  5 bucks for 3 tacos and since it’s outside Maggie gets to join.  If inclined one can go to the bar at the Doubletree for Wednesday night wings.  I recommend the garlic Parmesan crusted ones.  Thursday morning the ladies and gents separate for breakfast.  Ladies enjoy a dignified brunch at the museum restaurant while the guys go to the local dive.  Then every other Friday the marina has a free lunch for the cruisers. If that isn’t enough, there’s always the other great restaurants to check out.  Tim likes the burgers at The Beer Army and we both had fun eating at the bar at MJ’s- fresh steamed shrimp, crab, mussels, etc.  Anyway, we certainly won’t go hungry while here.

And because we now have Tim’s truck, we can head off on more road trips.  We decided to do just that last Thursday.  Neither of us had ever been to the Outer Banks so off we went.  We enjoyed the little town of Manteo, checked out the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, and drove the length of the skinny barriers islands down to Hatteras.  Maggie and I strolled the beach while Tim took in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum.  It was a relaxing and fun couple of days.