Man I gotta get out your way. This sounds nice.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"DSK" wrote in message
...
Early last month ago we spent a week and a half on the boat. For the first
few days we just got things put together & organized, went out for a few
afternoon trips, and one overnight for 4th of July fireworks.

Then we got organized to make somewhat longer trip from New Bern down to
Morehead City, where fuel is cheaper. This was the beginning of a 5 day
cruise, exploring some parts of our area where don't go very often... a
few places we haven't been and that I have never talked to anybody who's
been.

It's about 40 miles to the Bogue Sound side of Morehead City's waterfront.
We left late morning and got there late afternoon, before the fuel dock
closed. The man was very friendly and said he was waiting for an 83-footer
who called in to say they were coming in for fuel that evening.

Don't know if they ever showed, but a young couple in a 30-footer came up
and asked if they could park there while they had dinner at the seafood
restaurant next door. There was a current running at an angle to the docks
and the young lady driving the sailboat did an excellent job using helm &
prop walk to keep the boat in position, then eased it into a tight spot.
After they'd gone, I commented to the fuel man said "She's a very skilled
waterman," a nice old-fashioned compliment.

After this, we anchored out in a chennel of the Newport River behind
Morehead, tucking the boat carefully into a 6' pocket with some tidal
current. We were easily in sight of the Highway 17 bridge over to Beaufort
but we couldn't hear the traffic. A nice spot for the night. As always the
change of tide woke me when the boat swung the other way, the anchor was
well set.

The next day we headed north, up through the Adams Creek canal into the
Neuse R. We had decided to bypass Oriental and go around the corner,
northward to the Bay River. Anothe r cruising boat from Florida, on their
way to Maine, traveled in company with us along this leg. The ICW crosses
the mouth of the Bay River and there are two good anchorages handy. The
other boat went into the Goose Creek cut of the ICW, north to Hobucken (it
should be on a good map) and Pamlico River. We turned off and went up the
Bay River.

The Bay River is only about 20 miles long but it is very scenic. Parts of
it are getting built up but most of it is swamp. Unlike much of the NC
coast, it is not plagued with sandbars; the river is mostly muddy and 7 ~
12 feet deep. The creeks feeding into it are surprisingly deep. We
explored several, going into the swamp or pine forest until we could
barely turn around.

I think the Bay River got it's name because it seems to be a series of
connected bays. Open, near-circular areas a mile across are connected by
the river's pass between narrowing points. These bays make great summer
anchorages, far enough off shore that you don't get carried away by
mosquitoes but well sheltered in the regular summer thunderstorms.

We spent three nights on the Bay River, anchoring in various bays. We
stopped at the very head of the river, at a town called Bayboro. Actually
the river goes a little further, by this time it is really a creek, but it
goes under the state highway thru a culvert. Not sure a canoe could fit,
much less our tugboat. We tied up for an hour or so at the dock of an
out-of-business crab/oyster plant.

We also went to Vandemere but did not stop. It's waterfront businesses
have fallen on hard times just like the others... ironically enough, one
of the things helping out the NC coastal environment is that it's
currently cheaper to ship frozen seafood from South America and Southeast
Asia than it is to catch it & pack it here. However you'll still see a lot
of people trawling for shrimp & setting gill nets.

Then we went back around Maw Pt into the Neuse River. Maw Point is where
the ICW meets Pamlico Sound and has earned a nasty reputation over the
years, but we had calm weather both times we rounded. It doesn't look like
much, just a long line of swamp with some scrubby pine trees far back.

The last night we anchored in a little creek off the Neuse, although we
could have gotten back to the barn that evening. Next morning would be
soon enough to end the cruise. Pretty much uneventful, but very enjoyable.

Fair Skies
Doug King