Belhaven to Wrightsville Beach

On our approach to Belhaven, we discovered that our dripless shaft seal was about as dripless as our stainless steel is stainless. The shaft seal is the thingy that is supposed to keep water from intruding into the boat through the hole where the shaft enters the boat from the propeller on the outside on it's way to the engine on the inside.

This would involve hauling the boat out of the water, pulling the shaft partially out, sliding a new seal (and also a spare) onto the shaft, then reattaching the shaft, realigning the engine, putting it back in the water, and paying the bill with a smile.

We ordered the seals and set up an appointment with Bock Marine which is not far from Beaufort, NC. After leaving Belhaven, we anchored for the night in Back Creek , a tad north of Oriental.

The following morning our anchor was up by 5, very dark...and it was foggy. The entrance to the creek has several sharp turns to avoid shoals and we would not have attempted it in the dark and fog without radar and a chartplotter. Once we got out into the Neuse River the fog got thicker. We were going slow and on the verge of turning around to reanchor in the creek, but we decided to proceed past South River before giving up on the day. We did not want to enter the Adams Creek part of the ICW with thick fog. After passing South River the fog lifted and it turned into a beautiful day.


Fishing boat on Adams Creek ICW.


We arrived at Bock Marine just before 9 am, and we were out of there by 2:15. They seemed to do good work, but it's the first time we have ever been charged 42 feet for our 40 foot boat.

We like the town of Beaufort, but the anchorage is waaaay too crowded for us and the marina is very expensive with 3rd world quality restrooms and showers. So we continued on out the inlet, hung a left and made our way to Cape Lookout Bight. Our anchor was down before 5 pm. Cape Lookout Bight is an easy place to make a departure in the dark which suited us well. Our next stop was Wrightsville Beach which would be a long summer day sail--but this wasn't summer, so we would need to leave in the dark.


Pretty boat anchored next to us at Cape Lookout Bight. Notice the bike on deck.

We stayed put for a day waiting for the wind to change direction and to take advantage of a cold front which would bring brisk but favorable winds. We were underway by 4 am with 20 to 25 knot true wind just off our stern. The winds were supposed to abate through the day--which they did, but they stayed brisker than the forecast which enabled us to sail more and make a fast passage.


Sometime late morning, we picked up this very tired passenger.

We made good time and were anchored near the bridge at Wrightsville Beach by early afternoon.


The Motor Vessel Mi T Mo anchored behind us. Notice the car and the carport on the foredeck.