Day 2-146 Oriental to Belhaven, NC

We said goodbye to Oriental at 8:00 am in light winds and headed back out to the Intra Coastal Waterway for our 52.8 mile trip to Belhaven. As we left the marina, we passed several of the seafood processing plants, which are the mainstay of the local economy. After several miles, we rounded a point and headed north. At this juncture of our trip the weather took a turn for the worst. We were headed almost directly into a wind of 18 mph with gusts 5 or more mph higher. We were not in any danger, but the waves were 2.5 to 3 feet or occasionally higher. Onboard we were comfortable enough as long as we held onto something. The front windows on the flybridge enclosure are just over 16 feet above the water so we seldom get any spray up there.

Today was an exception as we had the windows "washed" about a dozen times. Normally that would not be a big deal, but when you are in salt water, the (white) salt residue lowers visibility. Since it was difficult to move around during the 2+ hours that we experienced this strong wind, that also made bathroom breaks less frequent. Oh well, let's not go further down that road.

Finally our trip north led us into a river where the waves died, and the wind was blocked. A short time later we stopped at this seafood processing plant where we were able to relax, have lunch and re-adjust the dinghy on the swim platform. We had been going into waves that occasionally must have been as high as 4 feet. When the waves passed out from under the stern, they must have lifted the dinghy and moved it around. The plant was closed on Sunday so we had the dock all to ourselves, and after about an hour, we resumed our journey north.

Shortly after our stop/break, we passed our only tow of the day. Sorry, I know that I include a lot of tug pictures, but the grandkids love them. So, you will just have to bear with me...








The rest of the trip was uneventful. Toward the end of today's trip,
we came out into the Pungo River, which was only about 2 miles wide, and the waves were nothing compared to our earlier crossing of open water. Our destination was the Dowry Creek Marina about 2 miles east of the town of Belhaven. Since it is still early in the local boating season, the swimming pool is not open yet. I "borrowed" this aerial view of the marina from their web page. The marina is very nice, but since it is very close to the mouth of the creek, it is a little exposed to southerly winds, which are predicted for tomorrow.

All in all, we knew at the start that it was going to be a fairly long day with a 8.5 hour trip, but the first part was more exciting than we had anticipated. The weather predictions for the next two days are not good so we will probably stay here for a day or two...