We spent the night anchored at Mile Hammock Bay/Camp Lejeune where the marines practice amphibious tactics. There were no night maneuver practice while we were there, but it is a neat spot. The next morning, four Moose Boats came flying by us, Brian was so excited here we were 3,009 miles from home seeing boats that he had a part in building. Most folks don’t realize that Moose Boats were built in Petaluma, CA buy a team of local welders and designers in response to the 9/11 attacks. We built almost 200 fire boats, police boats, and military boats that were shipped across the country. They are still being built today at the Mare Island shipyard in Vallejo.
Still following the navigation markers and our Navionics and Aquamaps software carefully as these are very shallow areas.
We arrived at the Oriental free dock for two nights in this lovely small town with very few touristy sights. We love being around the working boats. Especially loving the southern porch lifestyle.
The Bean, the local coffee/ice cream shop, couldn’t be more convenient.
Brian wanted a hair cut but they had no drop in appointments, until she saw my shirt and we started chatting all things Outlander. She made time for Brian’s cut.
Arriving in downtown New Bern by boat after talking about it for so many years was very exciting. We may never move here, but getting here with the boat was a major milestone.
Then, right after we arrived, I heard a mama duck teaching seven babies how to swim right next to the boat as if they were welcoming us.
They were tired and wanted a rest.
Downtown New Bern was beautiful. Not only the birthplace of Pepsi but a town filled with pre civil war history.
I’m hoping this means the creative juices are flowing!
Did you all know James Taylor has roots in New Bern?
Tryon Palace, rebuilt on the original brick footprint from old architectural plans, was great. Loving the restoration details, respect and pride in history, and all the volunteers who bring the past to life for us.
In addition to the regular tour of the interior of the palace, we happened to be there on the one day a month they do an Outlander tour outside. Muskets are loud and it would take me an hour to load and fire one shot if I could even lift it.
After seeing the real palace, have to shout out to production, the sets were done incredibly well to look like Tryon Palace.
We left New Bern and crossed the Neuse River in good weather and arrived at Fairfield Harbour. We had a lot to do to get the boat ready for us to take a break and head home for a couple of months. We did get the bikes out to see a small part of the community. We biked to some of the homes we had previously seen on Zillow. Many of the homes here have docks in back of the property. How cool would that be?
We had boxes to pick up in the clubhouse (see all the water level marks on the wall from named hurricanes), of course we had one more rain dump on us while packing. We did a deep clean and inventoried what was left onboard. Clothes left on the boat were vacuum bagged, defrosted fridge, flybridge emptied, canvas down, extra dock lines, and all open food tossed.
Arrived back at SFO. We plan resume the next leg this summer. We will take our time to visit the outer banks of N. Carolina and the Albemarle Loop in late summer. That time of year in this area is something that most loopers miss as they are already much further north. This is all part of our plan to do the loop in sections over several years rather than the traditional one year experience.
