From Southport, NC we continued northbound to Moorhead City. There we realized we were out of potatoes, tomatoes, fruit, orange juice, bread and were down to our last onion. So out came the bikes and we cycled off to the supermarket for provisions.
Without the threat of going hungry we traveled just a few miles further to Beaufort, NC. It was here that we met up with friends Jim, Kathy and Murphy again and went on a walking tour of the city. The top sites in Beaufort, NC are the Maritime Museum and the Burial Ground. At the museum we saw the head of a 2080 pound great white shark that was caught off Cape Fear in 1985. The shark was feasting off smaller sharks that had been caught by fisherman and in the process of its feeding frenzy managed to get itself caught up in the fishing lines. The museum displays only the head of the shark but it alone is intimidating enough! On a lighter side the museum also has the shell of a 20 pound lobster. Just one claw was enough to feed a family of four - well at least the Captain and I anyway.
From there we walked over to the burial ground and while I was originally a bit hesitant about walking through the cemetary, I have to admit it was quite interesting. Numbered markers were placed throughout the cemetary and a brochure informed us of the specifics of who the person was. There were men who fought in the revolutionary war - even a British officer who was buried standing up in salute of his home country. There were children who's graves were decorated with shells and children's toys. One young lady had died on a return trip from England with her father and rather than bury her at sea her father placed her corpse in a barrel of rum. Once she returned to the US, and her mother, the child was buried in the cemetary - still in the barrel of rum. Quite amazing!
Having seen Beaufort, it was time to continue on. We were up early with the intention of hoisting the anchor by 7:30 am. But whe we went to hoist the anchor we realized that no matter how much power we gave the engines we were moving nowhere! We were stuck - in the muck!! The wind had pushed us toward shore and the tide had dropped just low enough that we - a catamaran who draws less than 4 foot - were on the hard. How embarrassing!! Well Jim, Kathy and Murphy continued their journey. Meanwhile Dave and I decided to have a lazy morning with pancake breakfast and a movie. With the movie over we thought we could be on our way. Guess again - still stuck!! Fortunately, the tide was coming in more swiftly now and it was just another 15-20 minutes before we could be on our way. Thank heavens!
Fortunately, Jim, Kathy and Murphy took pity on us and slowly made their way up the ICW that day. This gave us the opportunity to catch up with them at the Bear Creek anchorage. But we were having such a good day that while in the anchorage we found the shoal and managed to get ourselves stuck again - fortunately only for a minute - before successfully dropping the hook.
Oh my what a day! Aground twice and three and a half hours on the hard! You can imagine that by the end of the day I was ready for a stiff drink!
The Admiral
4/20 -4/22/2010
PS Welcome to new readers Ed and Lois and Ed and Lynn. We hope you enjoy our journey.
1 comment:
We are enjoying your trip and thank you for all the details. We are familar with the area that you are traveling and can visulize your journey.
Hope the rest of your trip goes well. We will keep up with you on your blog.
Ed and Lois Dodson
Post a Comment