May 22, 2016
Length of Trip: 10 days Nautical Miles Traveled: 350 Hours of Cruising: 27 hours Longest Cruising Day: 7.5 hours, 70 NM, Beaufort, NC - Wrightsville Beach, NC Pleasant Surprise: Dolphins & Wild Horses, Beaufort, NC Biggest Disappointment: Lunch at Farm Boy's Favorite Destination: Beaufort, NC Favorite Meal: Spoon River, Belhaven, NC
May 21, 2016
We left the dock in the morning to be sure to get to our destination in Wilmington in a timely manner. John had to really focus the whole way to navigate through narrow channels, so he was a bit tired when we arrived in Wilmington, NC and Bennett Brothers Yachts, our departure point. So what do you do when you’re tired, you clean! Haha, but he enjoys cleaning the boat, so it’s fine. We went into the town in the afternoon and marveled at the historic nature of Wilmington, the largest city in...
May 20, 2016
We cast off by 7 am for a 7 hour cruise to Wrightsville Beach, NC. It was an easy cruise but a lot of concentration for John as we were cruising during low tide and you have to stay in a narrow strip of a very wide bay. It looks like big deep water, but there are shoals everywhere except one narrow channel that has been dredged for boat traffic. We docked at Seaport Yacht Club and walked to town and checked out the beach. It’s an interesting vibe – very much like Hermosa Beach in the old...
May 19, 2016
We awoke to rain. Kelly and Karol had to head home today, but first we made a morning visit to the local maritime museum, which focuses on North Carolina's cultural maritime heritage, coastal environment and natural history. Exhibit displays include shells from over 100 countries, fish models, shipwrecks, ship equipment, types of watercraft historically used in North Carolina, whaling, oyster catching, waterfowl hunting equipment and duck decoys which was quite good. There was a fascinating...
May 18, 2016
We were up early for our cruise to Beaufort, NC. It was a slightly rough crossing on the Neuse River, but then we headed into Cedarcreek River and things were smoother. The light sand beaches were surrounded by trees as far as we could see. We spotted pods of dolphins along the way. We docked at the historic waterfront in Beaufort where following lunch we took a bike ride tour with Betsy who told us much of the history of the area, the pre-revolutionary historic houses, and the pirate...
May 17, 2016
The next morning we left early for a cruise to Belhaven. It was a cute town, and the mini marina was at a lovely old mansion. The people were amazingly friendly. When we walked into town for lunch and stopped at an antiques store to ask for lunch suggestions, the owner of the shop offered to let us drive her Prius so we could go a little further out of town. So nice! We declined of course but the decision led to a terrible lunch. The only place open was the one place that the dock master had...
May 16, 2016
We rented a car to drive to Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers National Memorial, located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Along the way we stopped at Basnight's Lone Cedar Cafe on the waterfront where we shared French toast filled with cream cheese! OMG. Time for a juice cleanse. We arrived at the memorial to learn about the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. From 1900 to 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright came here from Dayton, Ohio,...
May 15, 2016
The next morning Kelly and I walked while Karol ran and John cleaned and prepped for the next journey. We took off that morning with our first day of nice sunshine for Manteo, NC. We had a lovely cruise but had to dodge crabpots galore! It’s a wonder there are any crabs left. They only have about 10 feet between pots as far as the eye can see – a field of pots!! I imagined the little crabs trying to live their lives in 3 square feet of ocean floor for fear they will end up in a bisque....
May 14, 2016
The next morning Karl, Kelly and I went for a walk/jog while John plotted a course for a 1:00 cruise to Coinjock, NC. We then walked downtown to breakfast at Three Way Café and were at the doors to the Nauticus Museum for the 10 am opening. We were greeted by a high school marching band from Pennsylvania. We all marched up the stairs to the USS Wisconsin, one of the largest battleships ever built. The USS Wisconsin was launched in 1943 – two years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is one...
May 13, 2016
We are so excited to be back on The Latitude Adjustment! We arrived into Norfolk, VA late in the evening and summoned a Lyft driver (we chose Lyft over Uber as I have been hearing nebulous negatives about Uber) to take us to the boat in Zimmerman’s Marina at Heron’s Point an hour and a half away. Our driver was originally from Jamaica but had been in the U.S. for over 12 years. He drives for Uber and Lyft so he explained his take on why people are upset with Uber. He says that it’s...