A Day in Beaufort

Day 31, Friday, October 28, 2016

You can monitor my trip at the link: Second Winds Progress Live

Today was a hang around Beaufort day.  I slept in until around 7:00 which is really unusual for me.  I spent the first part of the morning working on the blog and trying to get internet service.  These marinas all offer that you can get it on their docks for free but it almost never works.  A number of other boats in our

Name Board and Figure Head

group have resorted to buying a WiFi extender which allows them to capture a signal from, I understand, up to 5 miles away and amplifies it.  The guy with the one power boat, Bobby, just bought one and allows me to use his signal, however, the marina service is quite slow so it was not particularly effective.

I finally wandered to a coffee shop that had good coffee and strong internet service and was able to finally publish the posting.  Back at the boat I did a few chores before Sweet Pea’s skipper, Sam and her husband offered that we go to the local maritime museum.  Our group is scheduled to go there tomorrow but we have been discussing leaving Beaufort a day early.  Her boat can travel only about 4.2 knots and in two days, we are scheduled make a 50 plus mile run which would

Canon used to shoot a line to a foundered ship

mean that she would have to leave before sun up and get in after dark even if she had no problems.  My boat makes a bit over 5 knots and it would be close for me as well.  The big boats all travel over 6 knots and it is quite doable for them.  We would make the first day run that would be the same as the trip for the rest of the gang and then cut the second long day run in half with an anchorage.  As it turns out, that will be our plan.

Back to the museum, it was a small but well set up collection of seafaring object with a fairly large presentation of the life and death of Black Beard, the pirate.  His

Period Weapons

ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, was wrecked and sunk near here and was fairly recently discovered and salvaged.  There were many artifacts on display including cannons and a few timbers.  They also had an extensive display that illustrated the history of the common local fishing craft of the area.  We probably spent a couple of hours wandering through the museum.

From there we crossed the street to their huge workshop where they build and restore boats using students and apprentices for their projects. Our next stop was at a marine consignment shop.  This place had quite a large collection of old stuff. 

Sail demonstration on an old sailing craft

We got there by way of one of the fleet cars offered by the marina.  They must have 5 or 6 of these old huge Buick station wagons; the ones with the rear seat pointing aft.  We were walking along next to the fleet when we asked directions of a fellow getting into one of the cars.  He offered to take us there.  He turns out to be a full time captain of one of the huge yachts parked there.  He has worked for this family for 15 years piloting this big boat all around.

Wild horses on Rachel Carson's Reserve

Back at the boat, we heard from the boat moored next to me that they had taken their dinghy across the river to the huge Rachel Carson Reserve where they had seen a herd of wild horses. So I put the little 2.2 Honda on Damn Dink Too and invited Bobby to join me.  The island is a totally uninhabited reserve on which you are allowed to roam as long as you don’t disturb the horses. We did see the herd but they were a long way off.  There must have been 15 or 20 animals in the group.

At around 4:00, a couple who live in the area and were originally planning on joining our group brought a table and covered it with wine, cheese, chips and dip and set it up on the dock in front of my boat.  The whole group eagerly gathered

Some locals out for a ride

and devoured the goodies.

I grilled my last steak and accompanied it with garlic mashed potatoes.  I then purchased another tank of fuel before I sat down with Sam and Phil to figure out our route for the next two days. From there I took a long hot shower.  And, bed arrived at the usual time.