Beaufort, NC - my new favorite!

The City Marina is located in front of downtown Beaufort, NC. A really nice anchorage is located directly across from the docks on Taylor Creek.




Downtown Beaufort is charming with many good restaurants.





The Old Burial Yard has graves from the 1700's. It is sad to see how many children died at young ages. Not unusual to see 4 or more children graves for one family.

Many Confederate soldiers are buried in this cemetery.

Mohring Group provided the materials for the competition. During the event, they displayed their beautiful marine wood products.

As part of the National Boat Building Challenge, the wooden boat school hired this gentleman to explain how he creates ships in the bottle. He showed us how he had squeezed the ship into the bottle with lines attached to the masts. He labeled the lines so he could pull the masts up in the correct order.

Beaufort, NC hosted the 4th Annual National Boat Building Challenge. Challenges are currently being held annually in Belfast, ME, Georgetown, SC & Beaufort, NC. The top three teams from each challenge were invited to compete for the national title at this show.

The boat being built for this challenge was the Carolina Bateau. The first boat was completed in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds. There was a separate competition for high school teams. The high school students had a coach giving them advice, but they did all the work themselves.

The two members of this team were finish carpenters and their boat was gorgeous.

The winning team was a husband/wife team. They not only built a great boat, but they had obviously practiced rowing so that they could perform on all fronts!

Bagpipes played music before the start of the competition.

After the boats were completed, the carpenters had to race with each member rowing to a point and rowing back. High Spirits was docked immediately on the  race course. We were on the same dock and we joined Ruth and Wayne along with their friends Jay, Lori and their granddaughter, Emerson to watch the race.

Some of the carpenters need lessons in rowing! The biggest problem happened to be the oars and oar locks. The oars were made before the competition or could be purchased. Some were beautiful and made of wood and epoxy. Not everyone knew how to use the oars! Since the boats were glued, there was little time for the glue to set.  Not good!

Jay, Lori and Emerson from Greenville, NC. Jay and Lori are doing the Great Loop over a 5 year period. Their boat is up on the hard (our way for saying the boat is out of the water on blocks being stored) in Charlevoix. In August they will return and complete more of the Loop. Jay is still working and takes two months off to complete part of the Loop.

Along with Ruth and Wayne from High Spirits, we visited Jay and Lorie's second home in Morehead City. Beautiful home overlooking a canal near the River.

I wasn't doing a great job taking pictures at his point as we picked strawberries at a wonderful strawberry patch. They were delicious. Jay and Lori drove us around the are in their Expedition. Room for all!

Jay and Lori drove us to this store. Right up our alley!

Parts were laying all over the floor and were disorganized. Makes it fun to look for something you need!

We visited Fort Macon located nearby. Along the way we hav e learned about the "War between the States" and "The War of Northern Aggression". Rarely is the war called The Civil War. This fort was built after the War of 1812. Our Canadian friends have informed us the War of 1812 was  started by the Americans against THEM! Guess we never thought of it that way!

There is a large area between the outer most wall and the fort which could be flooded to be a moat. They were able to pump water in and out from the sea.

Each of these pins was topped with a cannon. The points on the outer row were used to point the cannon.

Looks like a cannon fired from this point!

There were varied cannons around the grounds.

My Mother asked for a picture of me, since as the photographer there are not many!

Our guide weilded a cane and explained the intricacies of the Fort. He had grown up nearby.

Fort Macon overlooks this beach.

We walked the beach and enjoyed the view of Beaufort.

We are really grateful to Lori and Jay Branch for showing us Beaufort. As you can see, we loved Beaufort....NC!




 

Tanks cruising the ICW? - you got it - near Swansboro, NC



As we left Wrightsville Beach, we couldn't help but notice our antithesis, cigarette boats. Hope the owners are still asleep!



This was a day for bridges. This is a bascule bridge, better known as a drawbridge.

This bridge would be described as a swing bridge.

This is another form of swing bridge.

Jim and I decided the owner of this home would be able to give directions as "the pink house on the ICW near Swansboro".  Nor more description needed!

As you have seen, I have a fascination with workmen along the waterways.

More shrimp boats, how charming! Any day now, the boats will go out and begin catching shrimp. The water is almost warm enough for the shrimp season to begin.

This guy is scraping the bottom with a scoop-type device with a handle. He is harvesting mussels.

Two guys are paddling together on their way to Maine. They are two really crazy guys!

All of a sudden we sighted a ________ coming out of the bushes. What is it?

As we approached the spot where the floating tank entered the river, we saw more of the "swimming" tanks. We were cruising through Camp Lejeune and we had heard that we could be held up by a closed waterway as the Marines practiced maneuvers.  We did not expect tanks that can cross a river!

As the tank entered the ICW, we saw a huge splash. We thought maybe it would become a submarine!

The tanks swam quite heartily!

Driving on shore didn't seem too much of a chore either! Wonder how much one of these little buggers cost. Where is Phil Zyskowski when I need him? He is my sailing buddy who is a financial guru on the financial side at the Tank Plant in Warren, MI.

This sign warns boaters to stop on the ICW if the light is flashing. Since they are shooting when this happens, it is a good idea to listen. I wonder how we are supposed to listen to AM530. We have a VHF radio, not a car radio.

Maybe this tank didn't perform as well as it should have. We saw a number of "bombed out" tanks along the waterway.

This was one of those days that the ride to our marina or anchorage was more interesting than the destination!  Swansboro is a sleepy, historic town located near the outflow of the Oak River. Settlers first came to Swansboro in 1730. Early prosperity was based on ship building and paddle wheelers were built in the early years here. Residents later on became commercial fishermen. 

After WWII, Camp Lejeune became a major source of income in the area. Camp Lejeune remains a busy training center for the Marines. We heard many explosions of bombs and obviously maneuvers underway.

Ducks cruise the streets in Swansboro. Kind of cute, isn't he?

We were told this was the Mayor of Swansboro. He would not stop eating and when he stopped and we looked at him from above, he must weigh 25 pounds. Watch out for that Mayor!

This is the fancy marina where we stayed.

Jim and Wayne thought the best part of the stay was watching the fishing boat being pulled out of the water for repair. Apparently the owner, an 80+ year old guy had the boat on blocks and it fell. Good thing he wasn't under it!

The captain is watching the procedure as the boat is pulled out of the water by a chain. The guys push in the supports on the side to hold the boat up when it leaves the water.

High and dry!

Wrightsville Beach anchorage - don't put this on your Bucket List.

As we cruise it is interesting to notice the scenery as it changes.

The surrounding islands appeared more and more to look like dunes.

The cars on the beach reminded us of Daytona Beach.

This boat has not been maintained in a LONG time.

Along the Atlantic shore there are large developments.

Some things cannot be explained......

Wrightsville Beach anchorage. The dinghy dock was a short distance away with a very short walk to the beach on the Atlantic.

Occasionally we see a boat with one person cruising. Amazing how well they do on the ICW. This captain rolled his jib in less than a minute as we reached the bridge and awaited the opening.

Bald Head Island, NC - Put it on your Bucket List.

There are no cars on Bald Head Island. Most people take the ferry from Southport to get to the Island. Once on the Island, transportation is limited to golf carts, bikes and foot traffic. The Island complex is 12,000 acres, including marsh and creeks. Bald Head Island is located on the Cape Fear River in the Cape Fear Harbor.

The newly developed Marina has a really nice office!

Notice the two baby seats on the back of this fashionable golf cart.

The Bald Island lighthouse is the oldest in North Carolina. This is one of the photos from the top of the tower.

Ruth and Wayne rented bikes as they do not carry them on their boat or have any bikes at home. They look like pros in this photo, don't they?

The golf course on the Island is beautiful.

Notice the crowd on the beach. The pristine sand goes on forever. Jim and Wayne are deep in conversation.

Jim thought this fence made a fine bike rack.

The homes on the Island are amazing. Most are traditional, but this home was truly unique.

Isn't this home gorgeous? Perfect down to the details. The garages are typically smaller - just large enough for golf carts. Don't need a garage big enough for a car!

Jim, Wayne and Ruth are approaching Old Baldy Lighthouse after a long bike ride around the Island.

Jim is contemplating life......

This little guy was swimming in the marina.