We are trying to keep this Leg (leg 3 of our segmented Great Loop) at a slower pace and stay at each stop long enough to get a feel for the area.  At River Dunes Marina this meant steam showers, adult swimming pool time (a two hour happy hour with a dozen folks chatting in the pool), lunch at Yawlâs cafĂ©, and then we borrowed the loaner car to provision at the Oriental Piggly Wiggly.
âProceed as the way opensâ joins âwabi sabiâ as one of our mottos.
Planning your route is a misnomer, you aren’t picking a route as much as planning several alternates for whatever the weather determines will be your direction for the day.  We thought we could spend a few days at Ocracoke island but the wind was predicted to be 17 mph with an average of 2â waves which is just above my âfirst class passengersâ (hi Dave & Claudia) đ  go/ no-go scenario of 15 mph winds and 2 or less ft seas for crossings so we decided to play it safe and head north. No worries, we will put Ocracoke on our list places to visit when we head south in a couple years. Always have an alternate anchorage / marina.  And it goes without saying, donât have a fixed schedule/ timeline.
We left River Dunes and traveled to the Pamlico River.  The sound is huge and should be called a bay, itâs so large, you canât see the other side. The wind was blowing 17, and the Neuse had a 2â chop and white caps, the first course to the marker had us in a beam sea, Ellen drove while I secured everything. We were rolling a decent amount. The marks for the shoals are far offshore as these bays are pretty shallow.
At the mark we headed downwind and the rest of the short 20 mile run was nice. We went past R. E. Mayo Seafood but didnât stop to get shrimp. Â We passed the first two possible anchorage spots in favor of a beautiful little cove and hooked the bottom nicely.
This spot is surrounded by tall pines and some nice but rustic homes. Duck blinds were visible, one house was occupied but these look like weekend cabins. We both swam to cool off, the water temp 86 degrees and so refreshing.
Brian was worried about barnacles on the hull so He got extra time cooling off by cleaning the waterline and hull as as possible without diving, Â scraping a few barnacles. Â The thruster prop was clean so the main should be fine.
First night on the hook, and the batteries did fine and the breeze held. Ellen moved mid sleep to the main cabin and slept on the floor of the salon. There are definitely trade offs to summer looping but so far so good.
People avoid this anchorage because there are many crab pots at the entrance. They are hard to see going into the sun and will wrap your prop if you drive to close to them.
Exiting our anchorage looking into the Eastern Sun. Hard to see them.
Same field of crab pots – different direction. So many, so close together.
We pulled into Belhaven  next, what a cool little town, trying with all its might to stay current and attractive, (locals brag its is on the upswing!) it has a historic district with 20 or so classic white houses built in the mid to late 1800âs many converted to B&Bs.  Most homes are decorated in Americana, the type of idyllic house you would want to live in.  The original owners were ship captains and lumber mill owners. The Chamber of Commerce put together a nice map with each houses history. We stopped  at the Chamber and got the lowdown on the town and current gossip.
Belhaven has good water access with a two lift boat yard surrounded by green lawn and trees.  There were new condos going up and an old brick building getting a redo. Like all towns we have seen the low income district is also right in town, not separated by any sort of middle class housing types, it goes from fancy to singlewides and smaller brick buildings.  But all clean and well kept there is pride of ownership. There was not a gum wrapper on the streets.  We put a new flag on the boat and left the old one with instructions at the Boy and Girl Scout building for proper disposal.
If we were still working, Iâm sure my rants about towns would be different, there is not a ton of jobs here, the average age (from our new friend at the chamber) is 68. This would be a nice place to retire. In California we have everything we could ask for within two miles of our home; schools, health care, parks, every store you need. In the smaller towns, the pride of ownership is so evident, people are proud of their town and their homes and offer to help you at every turn. It’s been wonderful to take a break from all the old motor homes, trash, anger and division that has become a part of our daily “busy lives”‘.
We walked to a small place in town for taco Tuesdays. Loved the Spanish accented explanation of the specials followed by a y’all! Impressive storm followed as we walked back to the boat.
