North Carolina Big Water

Date:                                  April 28, 2013

Days on the Cruise:             34

From:                                Oriental Marina and Inn, Oriental, NC

To:                                    Dowry Creek Marina, Belhaven, NC,

Statute Miles:                    52.2

Time:                                5.75 Hours

Cumulative Miles:             1,096.5

On Board:                         Chuck, Susan, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut

Tonight we are in Belhaven, NC at Dowry Creek Marina as shown by the pink marker

Today was all about navigating some of North Carolina's big water as we transited the Neuse River, Pamlico River, and Pungo River along with some other smaller rivers and creeks. We got an early start from Oriental, leaving about 7:10, and got out onto the Neuse River to try to make distance before the winds picked up and the wave action started. We were moderately successful in this, as we ran faster today at 10-11 mph. We started picking up bigger waves about an hour into the trip, and these waves rocked us quite a bit. For most of the trip on the Neuse, the river was about 6 miles wide.

This is the pink hull sail boat that I posted a poor picture of yesterday

Look at the forest of sail boat masts in this marina across the bridge from Oriental!

Early morning on the Neuse River heading directly into the sun

It's a long way to land on the Neuse River

Keep going this direction on the Neuse and you will end up on the Outer Banks

We got off the Neuse about two hours after we started and got into Bay River and Stonewall Creek. Once we got off the Neuse, we throttled back for a more economical fuel burn at 8-8.5 mph. The sea conditions were calm in the creeks and small rivers.

Finally getting off the Neuse River as we go into Stonewall Creek

Mayo Seafood Company docks right at the Hobucken Bridge

Cool name for a shrimp boat, the "Dawson Blaze"

We entered the Pamlico River which flows into the huge Pamlico Sound, about three and a half hours after we left Oriental. It took us about 45 minutes to cross this five mile wide river. The waves were very manageable, and the rocking and rolling was not nearly as bad as on the Neuse.

Another big body of water, the Pamlico River which flows into Pamlico Sound

We turned North on the Pungo River which flows into the Pamlico. The Pungo is also very wide and can be nasty in the right wind conditions, but today the wind was from behind for the most part and we had what I thought was a following sea.

Belhaven is not much to look at from the Pungo River. Our marina for the night is about three miles East of town out in the middle of nowhere. We turned into the entrance channel that leads to Dowry Creek Marina, and arrived at 12:50 PM, much earlier than I anticipated. It was still a 52 mile trip.

The Dowry Creek Marina is highly recommended on the cruising websites. The main attraction is the care which the staff takes with its customers, and we can attest to this. Fueling was easy and the dock master gave us our choice of where to dock. The docks are wood fixed docks that appear to be fairly old. Mary, who is the marina owner, was very nice and helpful.

Coming into the Dowry Creek Marina

The view from our stern at the Dowry Creek Marina

Dowry Creek Marina

Dowry Creek Marina

Looking back out to the Pungo River from our slip at the Dowry Creek Marina

Tonight we ate dinner on board, and it is really dark out here. The lights on the long wooden dock back to the shoreline are very sparse, and when we took Maggie out for her final walk of the night, it was very hard to see. We also don't have cell service on our phones and iPad, but we do have good wi-fi from the marina. Well, we are out in the country!

Tomorrow is another fifty some odd mile day where we go to a marina on the Alligator River just short of Albemarle Sound, which we will cross on Tuesday. Tomorrow's big water is part of the Alligator River which looks to be a mile or two wide in some places. I think the wind will be behind us again on this big stretch, but it is supposed to rain pretty much all day.

Ben and Amanda go for her appointment at 8:30 in the morning. Their baby should be born this week, and maybe tomorrow or Tuesday! Exciting times, and we hate that we are 800 miles away.

Thanks for Reading!