After several days of very little activity, I decided it was time to take Eureka on a solo sojourn.
I have always wanted to take Eureka out on a solo journey and today, it worked. No one was available to go, so off I go. Joe helped me get the dinghy and get away from the dock.
I left the dock around 1:15 pm. At the end of the channel to the marina, I decided that I have not been to the Neuse River this year, so decided to turn right.
After a pleasant 3 hour motor (with only light winds) on the ICW, I stopped at Adams Creek, a great anchorage that has seen Eureka many times. This is a well visited anchorage before entering the Neuse River.
Arriving around 4pm, I spent the afternoon completing the 27th book in Kent Alexander's Bolithio series - a 2 year project.
After a great gourmet dinner of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, I look forward to a quiet, cool evening of reading and enjoying the quiet solitude.
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| Adams Creek at Sunset |
Wednesday, September 26
A very pleasant night. The temperatures cooled quickly after sunset, and by sunrise, I found that the light sleeping bag was comfortable.
A very slow start to the morning. After breakfast, I noticed that the port holes were looking rather dirty, so I began using chrome polish and window cleaner and quickly completed 5 of the 10 portholes. It is amazing the difference. I feel inspired to do further cleaning, but the urge quickly passes.
There is no wind, but around 10 am I upanchored (very easy to do in light winds and no tide) and head toward the Neuse River. There isn't a ripple on the water other than other boats passing. It is quite beautiful. I motor around Garbacon Shoal and into the South River around noon.
Then another working inspiration set upon me and I get out the Semco (wood sealer) and start working on the teak, which is desperate need of a new coat. After about an hour, the inspiration wears off, and the wind starts to fill in. Time to sail.
I motor out to the river and set the sails in 4 to 10 knots of wind for a pleasant couple of hours tweaking the sails to see how much I can get out of Eureka. She does a good job in the light winds, reaching 4 knots occasionally.
Around 4:30 I return to anchor in the South River. No more working inspiration, so I settle into a good book in the swinging chair on the bow and enjoy a quiet afternoon of reading.
South River is a big wide open area - probably 2 to 3 miles wide, but with practically no wind, anchoring in the middle (away from the shore bugs) is practical. There are a few homes on the Western Shore, otherwise it is dark and quiet.
I waked up early morning and went on deck to check everything and the moon was in a great position for a photo. The water was perfectly flat and the moon reflected beautifully.
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| The moon's reflection in the South River |
Thursday, Sept 27
South River was quiet overnight and this morning, after a slow start, I finished cleaning the windows and did some other cleaning inside the boat, which was desperately needed. Then inspiration got the best of me and and I continued my work on the teak. Got almost half of it done now and inspiration dissipated.
Around 2 PM, I decided to motor (absolutely no wind) over to Oriental. Tomorrow morning, Joe is going to join me in Oriental for a couple of days.
Oriental is quiet. I went to shore and found that The Provisioning Company has reopened. Last time we were here it was closed. Got a couple items, went to to the TouCan bar had a couple beers and returned to Eureka, returning later for a good cheeseburger.
Friday, Sept 28
Today Joe joined me for the rest of the trip, which ends Sunday. It's not really a trip because all I've been doing is going to various anchorages within a few miles of each other on the Neuse Rive.
Clara drove Joe over to Oriental this morning so he could get on board. They arrived around 9:30 am. I had to get a new dinghy gas can so we went back to The Provisioning Company and we got one of those fancy gas cans that supposed to be easy to use and not spill gas. We stopped off for coffee near the Oriental Marina and then dignhied out to the boat.
Today there was very light winds, but we set the sails and slowly (very slowly) moved to the East ending up mid afternoon at Broad Creek. After anchoring, we decided to take the dinghy to River Dunes, a relatively new development in Pamlico County that has developed a very exclusive and nice upland (dug out) marina. This development of over 600 lots got caught in the recession and only about 150 lots have been sold and only 40-50 VERY nice homes built. The marina is really nice, and well maintained, but I don't think it has reached the "tipping point" yet where its making money.
On the way to River Dunes, we gave out of gas, so had to employ our new fancy dinghy gas can. We never did get the gas can spout to work, so I had to take the cap off and pour it in the old fashioned way. So much for fancy gas can spouts.
We enjoyed another pleasant, cool evening aboard
Saturday, September 29
We left our anchorage with a wind of 6-7 knots and sailed slowly up the Neuse. In a couple of hours, we began to see gathering clouds in the West. After checking the weather, we saw that a significant line of thunderstorms was heading our way. We decided that we wanted to eat dinner ashore in Oriental, and it looked like a rainy afternoon, so we elected to go to Oriental Marina for the evening. We timed our arrival perfectly - at the peak of the rain squall, with lightening, rain and wind. It made for a rather interesting, but uneventful arrival.
We ate at the marina restaurant, Toucan, and drifted back to the boat for a nice quiet evening.
Sunday, September 30
Today we head back to home. Before leaving we went to have coffee at The Bean, the local hangout. While sitting drinking our coffee, a lady approached our table and announced that she was going to sit with us because we weren't from here. We enjoyed a nice long conversation. Carol Small and husband had moved to Oriental 7 years ago, and she had obviously taken the community to heart and seemed to be involved in all aspects of the community life. It was fun and interesting to hear here describe the local politics, rumors and etc.
Then, we headed across the Neuse River and down the ditch to home.
