Rough Weather - Beaufort to Belhaven NC

We spent four days in Beaufort, partly due to the weather and partly because this is a nice place to stop. That said, even if Beaufort was not a good place to stop we would have had to stay there because of the weather.

Diana and I pose with the Beaufort Docks courtesy car
Notice the jackets - It's getting colder as we move north

We stayed at Beaufort Docks, which is right at the heart of their downtown area.  We took several walks, toured their historic district and enjoyed two of their restaurants, a quaint little coffee shop called Beaufort Coffee Shop and Wine Bar and dinner at Clawson's.  We also took advantage of their courtesy car (actually twice) and did some serious provisioning.

We had not used a courtesy car since 2010 when we completed the western rivers on our Great Loop adventure.  Beaufort was in the "serious" courtesy car business.  They had four, all Buick Roadmaster Wagons from the early 90s.  The two we used had over 180,000 miles and were in rough shape.  But they got us where we wanted to go.  Perhaps that was their justification for $2.50 per foot.

Readers will recall that we traveled to Beaufort on a 25 hours overnight cruise (4/13-14) from Charleston, SC at the tail end of a weather window.  That window closed on late on Monday evening with heavy rain and strong winds out of the northeast.  The strong winds persisted through Thursday.

On Friday, the winds were predicted to be northeast at 10 to 15 knots, which while not ideal, was the lowest winds in past four days.  The winds were also predicted to be out of the northeast for the next 5 days as the strong low pressure center over Florida moved slowly northeast.  You might say this was a one day weather window.  We decided to take advantage and cruise 67 miles further north.

Explanatory Note: Strong low pressure, especially over the ocean, produces high northeast winds and big waves.  The slow moving storm coming out of Florida was forecasted to produce northeast winds of 20 to 25 knots and 7 to 10 foots seas from Friday night through Monday.  As I write this early Sunday morning I can testify to the accuracy of NOAA's weather prediction.  It was dead on.

Explanatory Note: Wind over open water produces waves.  The higher the wind and the longer the fetch (distance) the higher the waves.

Departure was early as usual for a long cruising day.  Today's route took us slightly east to the Beaufort Inlet and then north through Morehead City's commercial harbor to the ICW.

We encounter a freighter being towed into port

The ICW for this stretch consists of canals, rivers (Neuse and Pungo) and sounds (Pamlico and Albermale) that make up the North Carolina Inner Banks.  The canals and narrow parts of the rivers are easy, calm water as there is little fetch except for long stretches with winds coming straight down the canal.  The wider parts of the rivers and the sounds are prone to rough water.

We pass a 75 foot vintage yacht built in 1930 in pristine condition

The we overtake a one barge tow
(Not as intimidating is the 15 and 25 barge tows we encountered on the Mississippi)

We pass a group of commercial fishing trawlers

This was the case as we proceeded north.  The Neuse River has a north south orientation and was choppy with 2 to 3 foot waves.  The Pamlico Sound was the roughest with 3 footers on the nose.  That said, except for a little spray, the 63 rode smoothly with negligible pitching.  Further, running the boat from the pilothouse with great windshield wipers was a piece of cake.  We would have been miserable on this run if we were still "driving" the 48 Sundancer.

As we turned north on the Pungo River I called the Belhaven Marina and discovered that they were booked solid for the night.  Lesson 1.  Do not leave port without a reservation when you are driving a 63 footer. However, we lucked out.  The dockmaster directed us to the Dowry Creek Marina just 3 miles further east. They had room on their gas dock and we were set for the night.

Guided Discovery at the gas dock

Dowry Creek Marina lounge, pool, office and owner's residence

This was a classic 'mom and pop" marina and it was very together.  In fact it was top rated by over 135 cruisers on Active Captain.  The only downside was fixed docks but that was mitigated by a 1 foot tide. Very friendly and for the second time we had a courtesy car (180,000 mile Dodge Durago), which was necessary as the marina is 6 miles from downtown Belhaven (small town with one traffic light).  We also got a great deal on fuel at $3.85 per gallon (we took on 328 gallons) and dockage was a very reasonable $93.00 per night (as compared to Hilton Head and Beaufort at the $200/night mark).

When we checked in, Mary, the owner provided some very important local knowledge regarding the Alligator River Railroad Bridge.  Turns out this swing bridge closes if wind start gusting to 35 knots.  Since there is no place to tie up in the 40 miles between Dowry Creek and the bridge, boaters have had to turn around and return to Dowry Creek (or an 80 mile round trip - read expensive $280 for 70 gallons at $4/gal).

We looked at the forecast Saturday morning and it called for northeast winds 20 to 30 with 35 knot gusts and heavy rain. We called the bridge and they said it was very likely that they would have to close.  We decided to stay put.   The forecast was dead on.  It blew 20 to 25 where we were with a few gusts to 30 and we were relatively protected.  The Alligator River bridge is close to Albermale Sound and the outer banks.  Winds their were much higher.  I'll bet it closed.

Saturday was a wet and windy day.  I'll let the photos tell the story.

We are at the center of the slow moving rain

Looking to port

looking to starboard (windward side)

Returning from a potty break with full rain gear (jacket, pants and hat)

On Friday night after dinner we discovered a new restaurant called Spoon River and decided to go there for dinner if we were pinned down by weather.  Saturday's dinner was spot on.  This was a gourmet restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  Belhaven population is 1,639 with an average household income of $17,434 as compared to NC's $44,000 average). Speaks to the old cliche "if you build it they will come."  Well the owners build it 16 months ago and they're making it.  Trip Advisor gives it 5 stars and so did we.

Spoon River - 5 star restaurant

You pick out your wine at their well stocked wine shop and they open it at the table

Tasteful decor and a full house on Saturday night

The weather forecast for Sunday is even worse than Saturday especially as you get closer to the Outer Banks.  NE winds 25 to 35 KT with gusts up to 40.  Seas 9 to 12 feet on the open waters.  Odds are the swing bridge will close.  We plan to stay put, catch up with maintenance and generally enjoy a quite day.

Happy Easter and Happy Passover!

Written by Les.