BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA

AUGUST 3, 2012
We have spent the last 5 nights anchored just out of Beaufort, North Carolina, on the Crystal Coast.  Our first full day was spent recovering from our overnight passage.


IT'S PERFECT AT ANCHOR OFF
COASTGUARD STATION

On Tuesday morning we discovered the refrigerator was not cooling properly.  After checking what we could we decided a professional opinion was needed.  The City Marina gave us the name & number of ABYC a refrigeration & air conditioning company. After 1 phone call we had Derek Beckman, a refrigeration tech on his way to meet our dinghy at the dock.  While we waited for Derek we spent some time seeing the town.  First stop was the Maritime Museum right across the street from the dock.  While soaking up some history we also enjoyed great air conditioning.  Then back to the dinghy to take our guest to the boat.

WATERFRONT IN BEAUFORT

ROD SURVEYING THE
ANCHORAGE

Derek is from England.  In 2004 he left England in his 36ft sailboat, making his way down to the Azores & to the east coast of America.  Soon after arriving in Beaufort he met & married his wife & is now a happy resident.  Everyone has an interesting story.

Arriving at the boat Derek had a trouble shooting checklist for our Alder Barber system. They started from the top & it did not take long.  Everything had the right voltage & the connections seemed to be good.  Not taking anything for granted they disconnected the unit & reconnected it & it began cooling perfectly.  Phew we dodged another bullet for the time being.  No other major  problems that we know of except the radar now has a message that the antenna is not rotating.  Rod will address that when we get into calmer waters of the ICW.  A trip up the mast seems to be in order.


FULL MOON OVER
ATLANTIC 3/2/2012

Wednesday was rainy & cool day, great for a change.  We got a little organizing done down below.  Thursday we again made the 15 min dinghy ride into town.  There are wonderful clothing, book & souvenir shops along with great waterfront restaurants.  The General Store also has a laundry right in the back.  This must be a sign, we soon had the laundry done & were enjoying a hamburger & fries while watching the wild horses grazing on the island across the water.  Rod loved Beaufort, everyone is very friendly & it is a small town with a lot of charm.

OUR FRIEND GLENN SHOULD TRY THIS ! !



This morning we motored into the City Dock to top off our fuel & water tanks.  North Carolina requires boats to keep documentation on dates & places you have your holding tank pumped.  We also took this opportunity to pump our tanks.  Because they are so diligent the reward is very clean water, it seems much cleaner than in South Carolina.

ANCHORAGE JUST OFF THE WATERFRONT

Heading north we will anchor near Oriental, NC tonight & in a different spot most every night heading for Norfolk, Virginia.