Beaufort, NC

Monday night we went to bed early as both of us were really tired. About two hours later I was rudely awakened by a significant change in the wind and wave action and got up to check on the situation. Tom continued to sleep. The wind was howling, waves were slapping, and the boat was sailing around the anchor a bit. I didn't think we were dragging anchor but couldn't go back to sleep without watching for a while. So, wrapped in a blanket, I sat in the salon and watched the lights around us move back and forth - and listened to Tom's snores below. Another boat anchored near us was awake as well with lights on in the cabin. After 30-40 minutes, the rain started and the wind died. Things became much calmer so I was able to crawl back into bed and fall pleasantly asleep with the rain tapping on the deck above me. Tom later said he was awake briefly but thought a barge had passed in the channel!

Tuesday morning was sunny but chilly so we waited til mid-morning to leave. The trip down Adams Creek was uneventful with a light north wind and favorable current. Near Beaufort the wind picked up but too late to sail. We decided to check out the anchorage in Town Creek, with Taylor Creek as Plan B. It was pretty crowded with mostly “permanent” boats and partially submerged vessels apparently left over from Irene. We tried twice unsuccessfully to anchor in one site and then moved further into the creek and tried the only other available site. Here we were happy to get the anchor dug in securely. The tide is larger than we had counted on so it was a good thing we hadn't stayed in the original site unless we had wanted to jump out and scrub the bottom at low tide.

So after lunch, we went into town, ate some ice cream, and bought a quart of oil for the dinghy motor. About an hour after returning to the boat, Tom realized he did not have his wallet. As he had been battling with the dinghy motor for some time (some of you know this as a fairly common activity with our motor), he thought it might have fallen out during this activity. We went back to shore to search at the dinghy dock. I suggested he check at the store first before digging around in the water. Sure enough, they had the wallet and all was well.

We watched a beautiful sunset from the helm seat while enjoying a refreshing beverage, pleased at being in a protected, quiet anchorage with the weather warming a little each day.  We have decided not to go offshore to Charleston as gale force winds and high seas are predicted and one of us doesn't want to tempt the weather gods.  (Can you guess which one?)