Cruise Report a little late

Early last month ago we spent a week and a half on the boat.
For the first few days we just got things put together &
organized, went out for a few afternoon trips, and one
overnight for 4th of July fireworks.

Then we got organized to make somewhat longer trip from New
Bern down to Morehead City, where fuel is cheaper. This was
the beginning of a 5 day cruise, exploring some parts of our
area where don't go very often... a few places we haven't
been and that I have never talked to anybody who's been.

It's about 40 miles to the Bogue Sound side of Morehead
City's waterfront. We left late morning and got there late
afternoon, before the fuel dock closed. The man was very
friendly and said he was waiting for an 83-footer who called
in to say they were coming in for fuel that evening.

Don't know if they ever showed, but a young couple in a
30-footer came up and asked if they could park there while
they had dinner at the seafood restaurant next door. 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
who 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