mile 182 to 204
We pulled anchor easily after a calm night and headed across the Neuse River and into Adam’s Creek. There was no wind so we could not sail but it was calm and beautiful for crossing the wide river.
We headed down Adam’s creek with the current against us. The idea was to arrive at Morehead City at slack tide because there is quite a current at the docks there. The creek section was easy with lots of straight sections. We saw a lot of loons but they were not calling and when we called to them, they tended to duck under water. We also saw a lot of dolphin. The water color changes to bright green in this section and is beautiful.
Adam’s Creek flows into Core Creek on the approach to Beaufort/Morehead City and the current changed and was pushing us along at about 4 knots. With our new found speed, we had to turn and motor around a bit to wait out the tide change.
We had decided on Morehead City this time because we had never been there. We love Beaufort but it is sometimes crowded and we have been there a lot. We decided to try the Morehead City transient docks. We made a reservation and they confirmed it right away. We decided on slip 10 at the east end of the dock as it shallows toward the west end.
We made the approach past the port terminal. People were fishing near the giant ships there. We slipped behind Sugarloaf Island and along the Morehead City waterfront.
There was still an outgoing current but David did a marvelous job getting us into the slip and stopped. There was no one to assist us but once we were in the slip, we were able to tie up easily. The current was pushing us away from the dock at that point and would push us into the dock at the next tide change. We arranged lines and bumpers accordingly. There were several boats anchored off Sugarloaf Island. At low tide in our slip, our depth finder read 0.5 or 6 inches below the keel. The dockmaster came out and was very nice. We mentioned the depth. “Remember that you have about 1.5-2 feet of fluff down there. You will be fine.” Then he talked about all the permits needed to dredge. He is planning to do so this year. A new meaning for the word fluff!
We had noticed our water pump repressurizing every now and then and knew there must be a leak somewhere. We found it easily this time. there was a crack in a fitting going to the pump. It was not a serious leak but we wanted to get the part to fix it. David mentioned the problem to our new friend Bruce and he told us about two parts places in town. We headed out to look for boat parts.
Morehead City is more industrial than Beaufort, with the port terminal. It also has a dock that serves the marines. It is home to a very large sports fishing fleet. Along the waterfront are some nice shops and restaurants. The main road, Arendell St., runs parallel to the waterfront and splits the peninsula. There is a railroad track in the middle of the road that is quite active. The street feeds into the bridge that goes to Beaufort.
Some of the waterfront places had reduced hours for the season but we walked over to Ace Marine and a second marine parts store called Almost Southern Marine. The owner at almost Southern was very helpful and had a bin of water pump parts. We decided to return the next day once we removed the part so we could make sure of the fitting. I was glad we were returning because next to Almost Southern was a lovely coffee shop and bakery named Marmalade, that was only open from 730-2.
We browsed around some other shops, a little gourmet grocery and olive oil place, a general store with lots of signs, and checked out the marina where Bruce is staying. We also found the restaurant Floyd’s 1921 that he had recommended. We went back to the boat, spoke to some power boaters and looked at our water pump. David was sure the part at the store would fit.
On our way back to the boat, several people were fishing off the waterfront docks. They can catch speckled trout and red drum. We met one man on a large tricycle with fish poles in the front and a small dog in an Irish knit sweater, riding in a basket on the back. I admired his rig and he stopped to talk. David asked about fishing, then we asked him the dog’s name.
“His name is Anchovy,” he said, “but I call him Sardine.”
We left them fishing off the deck of one of the restaurants.
The food at Floyd’s 1921 was excellent. It was truly a special occasion type of place. We had fried green tomatoes with shrimp that did not look fried but had just enough of a batter to make them crispy on the outside. We got a piece of the pecan bourbon pie to share tomorrow on our outside passage to Wrightsville Beach.
