Cruise Report a little late
 

Joe wrote:
Sounds like a nice week of exploration. I like to follow rivers and
creeks as far up them as possiable. Lots of neat stuff to see and do.

Same here. I enjoy watching the herons, especially the great
blues. Usually we can keep count of how many we see during a
day, this time we totally lost track.



Did you fish, or shoot anything?


Nah, left the critters alone if they left us alone... killed
about a million horse flies one day at a place called Bonner
Bay near the mouth of the river, just off the ICW...
ironically enough this is a highly recommended anchorage in
most cruising guides, it is deep & well sheltered and close
to the ICW... but it's also a haven for big bugs that bite.

Years ago I used to do a lot of deer hunting in a place just
north of this area.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Cruise Report a little late
 

Frank Boettcher wrote:

On Fri, 04 Aug 2006 21:27:51 -0400, DSK wrote:

Sounds like a good time.

Confused me with the reference to Beaufort. Wondered how you got way
down there so quick. Then I looked at map and saw you're talking
about the "other" Beaufort.

I'm familiar with the SC Beaufort. Spent some of my wasted youth as a
guest of the government on the their resort island across the sound
from Hilton Head.


I'm somehwat familiar with Beaufort ("Byew-fort") and Port
Royal, used to race down there several times a year and
cruised through a couple times. It is also getting built up,
but there is still a lot of wilderness. The tides down there
are a lot more concern.

We sailed past Parris Island many times and often thought of
the boots there, but never seen or heard anything going on.
It's a great place to train people to endure heat & sleep in
the swamp, also makes them eager to go to other countries.

One really lovely thing about that area is the dolphins. The
tidal wetlands are prime breeding grounds for all the little
critters that dolphins love to eat; on an outgoing tide
you'll often see them gather at the outflows of little
creeks. We don't see as many dolphins up our way.

Beaufort NC is one of the best jumping-off points from the
ICW to the Caribbean or Bahamas. Often lots of long distance
cruisers passing thru.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Cruise Report a little late
 

Capt. JG wrote:

Man I gotta get out your way. This sounds nice.


Y'all come on, just say when.

It's not like sailing SF Bay, but it has it's own good points.

DSK

Cruise Report a little late
 

Scotty wrote:

Sounds nice, Doug. Any pics?


Hate to say this, but it didn't even occur to me to take any.

I think a lot of people would have been bored, we were
basically riding around counting the turtles, watching
birds, listening to the ICW traffic on VHF, and taking life
easy.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Cruise Report a little late
 

DSK wrote:
Joe wrote:
Sounds like a nice week of exploration. I like to follow rivers and
creeks as far up them as possiable. Lots of neat stuff to see and do.

Same here. I enjoy watching the herons, especially the great
blues. Usually we can keep count of how many we see during a
day, this time we totally lost track.



Did you fish, or shoot anything?


Nah, left the critters alone if they left us alone... killed
about a million horse flies one day at a place called Bonner
Bay near the mouth of the river, just off the ICW...
ironically enough this is a highly recommended anchorage in
most cruising guides, it is deep & well sheltered and close
to the ICW... but it's also a haven for big bugs that bite.

I hate horse flys. Masn they can put a hurting on you, make mosquitos
feel pleasent

Years ago I used to do a lot of deer hunting in a place just
north of this area.

I haven't done deer hunting in 15-20 years. I did have to put one down
on the edge of Johnson Space Center bout a year ago. A car hit it, and
tore it's leg in half,luckly I had a 9mm under the truck seat. The
guards at NASA would not come and do it, yet they are the ones who
raise and harbor all the deer around here. One shot at 20+yrds.

We just sailed the bay a bit then anchored in Clearlake close to the
fireworks barge on July 4th.

http://image57.webshots.com/757/3/44...6idpRMA_ph.jpg

Joe


Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Cruise Report a little late
 

Yeah....best of both worlds...trawl around with the Doug's and sail around
with the katysail's....
wait until later Fall though...Chanteuse won't be back in the water until
sometime in September...need to do some bottom painting, etc. when we get
back from MI....
C
"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
Man I gotta get out your way. This sounds nice.

@@
www.sailnow.com

.. There was a current running at an angle to the docks
and the young lady driving the sailboat did an excellent job using helm
&
prop walk to keep the boat in position, then eased it into a tight spot.
After they'd gone, I commented to the fuel man said "She's a very
skilled
waterman," a nice old-fashioned compliment.

After this, we anchored out in a chennel of the Newport River behind
Morehead, tucking the boat carefully into a 6' pocket with some tidal
current. We were easily in sight of the Highway 17 bridge over to
Beaufort
but we couldn't hear the traffic. A nice spot for the night. As always
the
change of tide woke me when the boat swung the other way, the anchor was
well set.

The next day we headed north, up through the Adams Creek canal into the
Neuse R. We had decided to bypass Oriental and go around the corner,
northward to the Bay River. Anothe r cruising boat from Florida, on
their
way to Maine, traveled in company with us along this leg. The ICW
crosses
the mouth of the Bay River and there are two good anchorages handy. The
other boat went into the Goose Creek cut of the ICW, north to Hobucken
(it
should be on a good map) and Pamlico River. We turned off and went up
the
Bay River.

The Bay River is only about 20 miles long but it is very scenic. Parts
of
it are getting built up but most of it is swamp. Unlike much of the NC
coast, it is not plagued with sandbars; the river is mostly muddy and 7
~
12 feet deep. The creeks feeding into it are surprisingly deep. We
explored several, going into the swamp or pine forest until we could
barely turn around.

I think the Bay River got it's name because it seems to be a series of
connected bays. Open, near-circular areas a mile across are connected by
the river's pass between narrowing points. These bays make great summer
anchorages, far enough off shore that you don't get carried away by
mosquitoes but well sheltered in the regular summer thunderstorms.

We spent three nights on the Bay River, anchoring in various bays. We
stopped at the very head of the river, at a town called Bayboro.
Actually
the river goes a little further, by this time it is really a creek, but
it
goes under the state highway thru a culvert. Not sure a canoe could fit,
much less our tugboat. We tied up for an hour or so at the dock of an
out-of-business crab/oyster plant.

We also went to Vandemere but did not stop. It's waterfront businesses
have fallen on hard times just like the others... ironically enough, one
of the things helping out the NC coastal environment is that it's
currently cheaper to ship frozen seafood from South America and
Southeast
Asia than it is to catch it & pack it here. However you'll still see a
lot
of people trawling for shrimp & setting gill nets.

Then we went back around Maw Pt into the Neuse River. Maw Point is where
the ICW meets Pamlico Sound and has earned a nasty reputation over the
years, but we had calm weather both times we rounded. It doesn't look
like
much, just a long line of swamp with some scrubby pine trees far back.

The last night we anchored in a little creek off the Neuse, although we
could have gotten back to the barn that evening. Next morning would be
soon enough to end the cruise. Pretty much uneventful, but very
enjoyable.

Fair Skies
Doug King

Cruise Report a little late
 

Speaking of which... I'm outta here for a couple of days.. :-)

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"DSK" wrote in message
.. .
Capt. JG wrote:

Man I gotta get out your way. This sounds nice.


Y'all come on, just say when.

It's not like sailing SF Bay, but it has it's own good points.

DSK

Cruise Report a little late
 

On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 09:11:11 -0400, DSK wrote:

Frank Boettcher wrote:

On Fri, 04 Aug 2006 21:27:51 -0400, DSK wrote:

Sounds like a good time.

Confused me with the reference to Beaufort. Wondered how you got way
down there so quick. Then I looked at map and saw you're talking
about the "other" Beaufort.

I'm familiar with the SC Beaufort. Spent some of my wasted youth as a
guest of the government on the their resort island across the sound
from Hilton Head.


I'm somehwat familiar with Beaufort ("Byew-fort") and Port
Royal, used to race down there several times a year and
cruised through a couple times. It is also getting built up,
but there is still a lot of wilderness. The tides down there
are a lot more concern.

We sailed past Parris Island many times and often thought of
the boots there, but never seen or heard anything going on.
It's a great place to train people to endure heat & sleep in
the swamp, also makes them eager to go to other countries.

Just made me eager to leave Parris Island, although not as bad as
advirtised. ITR at LeJuene was another story, however.

One really lovely thing about that area is the dolphins. The
tidal wetlands are prime breeding grounds for all the little
critters that dolphins love to eat; on an outgoing tide
you'll often see them gather at the outflows of little
creeks. We don't see as many dolphins up our way.

Plenty of them my way. I was in Mexico Beach, Fl in May and we would
stop the boat in a school and some would come right up to the boat,
stick their heads out of the water and let you touch them. I think
some of them have been conditioned to get handouts, even though the
local marine resource people keep publishing fliers telling boaters
not to do that.

Frank

Beaufort NC is one of the best jumping-off points from the
ICW to the Caribbean or Bahamas. Often lots of long distance
cruisers passing thru.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Cruise Report a little late
 

Joe wrote:
We just sailed the bay a bit then anchored in Clearlake close to the
fireworks barge on July 4th.

http://image57.webshots.com/757/3/44...6idpRMA_ph.jpg



Nice pic, thanks. The red, white, & blue streamers are a
nice touch. That anchorage doesn't look too crowded, on July
4th you could walk across the river at New Bern, stepping
from boat to boat.

DSK