Location: Belhaven, NC
I must first begin this story with the disclaimer that today was a long long day, therefore it's a long story. This morning we awoke to a calm Eastham Creek. We awoke at sunrise, 6:30, hoping to make a lot of headway in order to get to Oriental, NC with ample amount of daylight to restock, refuel, and rewater. On deck the morning was ice cold and the boat was aground. It turns out that when we had taken the extra anchor out the day before we forgot to choke up on our main anchor line. This left the boat the ability to swing into the shallows. Dad and I tried everything we could think of. We launched the dingy and set out our second anchor again hoping we could use it to pull us off but no go. We put the mainsail up hoping we could tilt the hull enough to lift the keel out of the sand, but that didn't work either. It was so cold that it was hard to maintain a firm grip on the ropes. My gloves were of no help, after the wet anchor line soaked them through. I pulled on the rest of the line barehanded. Each cold handful of rope felt as if it seared my palms, pins and needles kind of stuff. It was a miserable morning and after an hour of trying we finally gave up hope and called Towboat US. Unfortunately giving up hope for Dad is not the same as giving up. We moved the heavy objects to the port side of the boat, hoping again to tilt the hull. It was two hours before Towboat US arrived, by then the day had warmed up and it wasn't quite as painful to move above deck. The Towboat US operator, Tom, told us that it was about five feet deep. We knew that we weren't aground much, but enough to keep us from moving, we draw four and a half, the extra half a foot was lost somewhere between the tow boat and us I guess. In no time at all we were off the sand, parting ways with tow boat Tom, and sailing away. We hadn't gone a half of a mile before I noticed that the knot meter failed, and was pointing to zero. I pointed this out to Dad, he tapped on the glass of the meter briefly and seconds later the engine stalled. So Towboat US got another call. While we waiting Dad began taking the engine apart, madly wondering what the problem was and how much it would cost us in time, money, happiness, etc. In the sea water strainer, that takes in water to cool down the engine, Dad found a bait fish cooked through stopping water flow to the engine causing it to overheat and stall. By this time tow boat Tom was back. He began to tow us to Belhaven, the closest main point but for us it was a twelve mile back track. While a mere twelve miles might not seem far it is to us. Getting out of a main harbor like Belhaven can take an hour and that on top of the milage means we would lose almost a quarter of a day of traveling screwing up our loose schedule dramatically. After putting the engine back together Dad turned the key and voila it ran. It was around 3pm at this point, and we were already halfway to Belhaven so we continued knowing that there wasn't much point in turning around to make more headway. Although we had lost a precious whole day Dad and I were grateful and congratulated ourselves that our engine trouble was a mere fish.
Inside Belhaven we went to the first marina we saw, River Forest. We refueled, restocked, rewatered, and hit the showers. After being on the boat for so long returning to shore feels a bit strange. We were fish out of water and like Ariel, simple human everyday things become captivating. Showers, for example, are one of those things. Along with television, internet, and any form of face to face contact with other humans. Fish out of water syndrome really makes one realize and appreciate everything we have available to us as well as the kindness of others.
With a car lent to us by the marina, we ventured into town to treat ourselves to dinner. We ate at the Spoon River Restaurant. The restaurant was a storefront that reminded us of those in Watch Hill, RI. Inside the decor made you want to live there. It was the perfect mix of bohemian and country, like a backyard wedding but inside with big white lanterns, whimsical chandeliers in the windows, original tin ceilings, and a piano in the center of the room. Attached to the restaurant was a wine shop, where you could pick through their large wine selection for the perfect bottle to be served to you at dinner. The food was excellent. I had the mahi mahi and Dad had the shrimp and grits. The mahi mahi sauce reminded me, in the best way possible, of my mother's manhattan clam chowder with a little something extra and Dad wouldn't stop talking about how great his meal was. The portions were generous, I didn't think dessert was going to happen for me, but we heard the selections anyway and decided we couldn't leave without the pumpkin cheesecake so we shared a slice. Next we met the owner, Teresa, and heard her story. She began as an interior designer, no surprise there. She started the restaurant about a year ago and has since bought three other buildings on the block I believe. She has a mind to turn at least one of them into a antique shop, finally clearing out her house she joked. She was the spark of life to the street and town. I really hope her dreams come true but it seems that the ball is rolling for her and that she's off to a great start.
The day didn't begin well but we arrived back at the boat with smiles on our faces. We made a plan at dinner that we would get up before dawn and try to make up some time that we lost today. Four am tomorrow we will leave for Oriental.
Inside Belhaven we went to the first marina we saw, River Forest. We refueled, restocked, rewatered, and hit the showers. After being on the boat for so long returning to shore feels a bit strange. We were fish out of water and like Ariel, simple human everyday things become captivating. Showers, for example, are one of those things. Along with television, internet, and any form of face to face contact with other humans. Fish out of water syndrome really makes one realize and appreciate everything we have available to us as well as the kindness of others.
With a car lent to us by the marina, we ventured into town to treat ourselves to dinner. We ate at the Spoon River Restaurant. The restaurant was a storefront that reminded us of those in Watch Hill, RI. Inside the decor made you want to live there. It was the perfect mix of bohemian and country, like a backyard wedding but inside with big white lanterns, whimsical chandeliers in the windows, original tin ceilings, and a piano in the center of the room. Attached to the restaurant was a wine shop, where you could pick through their large wine selection for the perfect bottle to be served to you at dinner. The food was excellent. I had the mahi mahi and Dad had the shrimp and grits. The mahi mahi sauce reminded me, in the best way possible, of my mother's manhattan clam chowder with a little something extra and Dad wouldn't stop talking about how great his meal was. The portions were generous, I didn't think dessert was going to happen for me, but we heard the selections anyway and decided we couldn't leave without the pumpkin cheesecake so we shared a slice. Next we met the owner, Teresa, and heard her story. She began as an interior designer, no surprise there. She started the restaurant about a year ago and has since bought three other buildings on the block I believe. She has a mind to turn at least one of them into a antique shop, finally clearing out her house she joked. She was the spark of life to the street and town. I really hope her dreams come true but it seems that the ball is rolling for her and that she's off to a great start.
The day didn't begin well but we arrived back at the boat with smiles on our faces. We made a plan at dinner that we would get up before dawn and try to make up some time that we lost today. Four am tomorrow we will leave for Oriental.
Spotted: dream house (hotel actually) and it's for sale!
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