Au revoir Beaufort - Cruising on the Nancy J

Nancy J at Town Creek Marina

Our extended stay in Beaufort through the winter into spring gave us a new perspective on this town that we’d usually just pass through on the way to somewhere else. We very much enjoyed our mile-long walks into town, crunching over the clam shells discarded by the local seagulls, and soaking up the maritime history. We sampled almost every restaurant in town and did our best to support the local economy.

One of the nicest amenities offered by Beaufort’s Town Creek Marina, where we had stayed, was their courtesy car for transient boaters. Because there weren’t many others around for the winter, we rarely had to wait to borrow it. This allowed me go to neighboring Morehead City to take care of dental and eye doctor appointments as well as go food shopping and run errands.

We departed Town Creek Marina on March 27 after yet another severe thunderstorm. This particular tempest treated us to 60 knot wind gusts. I’m sure glad climate change is a hoax otherwise I’d think the weekly 30-40 knot wind storms were the new normal. (hahaha) Earlier in the heart of winter, we ran away from some storms and cold spells by going to a nearby hotel. We’re sailors, not masochists.

Our first stop after leaving Town Creek was only about 14 miles to Cedar Creek. We were ahead of schedule for our haul out at Zimmerman’s Marine in Oriental, so we just killed time there as well as in nearby South River. South River is one of the most pristine places in the area with pine tree lined shorelines and very little boat traffic. It was a wonderful change from being docked in a marina for months.

We then moved on to Oriental, NC, named after a steamship that foundered off the nearby Outer Banks in 1862. Nancy J’s bottom was sanded, waxed and painted while we stayed at a delightful Air BnB a short walk away. Oriental calls itself the sailing capital of North Carolina and we realized why when we rented bikes and toured around town discovering many hidden tributaries lined with countless marinas. While Beaufort and Morehead City seem to be predominantly sport fishing centers, in Oriental sailboats rule.

Moving onward up the ICW we arrived in Annapolis on April 28 for our appointment with Yacht Canvas to be measured for a cockpit enclosure. Unfortunately, it won’t be ready until October. We were able to score a new-to-us AB inflatable to replace our 18 year-old dinghy. The very kind gentleman who sold it to us was nice enough to deliver our new one and take away the old AB. Getting an exact replacement meant we didn’t have to do any modifications to the hoisting arrangement on our davits. This acquisition really boosted our spirits as the logistics of buying, receiving, and disposal of a 10.5 foot fiberglass bottomed, inflatable can be a nightmare without having a land base. Now we can launch our dinghy and go without having to pump it up each time.

In the Annapolis area we caught up with friends and family and even touched base with Matt Rutherford, the subject of Red Dot on the Ocean, Amy’s film in collaboration with thesailingchannel.tv. Matt was preparing for another voyage to Greenland with his crew and scientist, Nikki Trenholm, to study the rate of glacial melt and other factors related to climate change. You can see what he’s been up to at: oceanresearchproject.org. (Red Dot on the Ocean can be seen on Amazon Prime and Youtube).

We’ve made many stops in our northward journey and are currently waiting out gale force winds in Block Island, RI. Next stop: Martha’s Vineyard.