Belhaven to Cedar Creek

We got up before dawn to be out at first light...this is a great system for getting going because you can go 7-8 hours and still get to your anchorage before 4pm.  Always good to have a cushion, especially on the ICW where you may find yourself discovering that shallow spot or an anchorage full.

But I digress...I doubt we'll ever tire of the sunrises on this trip south.  Each one is breathtaking and feels like a gift.  I wish I was a poet so I could find the words to describe them and do them justice.

...And away we went quickly pulling out a bit of our head sail to help the engines along.  The water was rough today and we were experiencing high winds with gusts at one point into the 25 knot range.  Our poor sweet girl was getting smacked around but she kept her nose pointed forward and never let them see her sweat.  With engines at 2000-2500 and our head sail out, Jon and Mark took us from the Pungo River into the Pamlico River then into Goose Creek then Bay River to Pamlico Sound (where it was quite rough again and for some time since it's a pretty big body to cover) and then into the Neuse River which also tried to push us around and finally into Adams Creek and Cedar Creek.  Man that's a lot of bodies of water in one day!  I saw that we had speeds from 6-7.2 through the day...but the wind, goodness gracious!  Our boat guided by Jon and Mark, held her own.

Even with the rough waters in the rivers and Sound, the channel still showed us its charm.  Along Goose Creek we passed a group of shrimp boats so of course I had to send a photo to my sister with Bubba's shrimp recitals from Forest Gump.  I do amuse myself so.

I spent the majority of the day inside (it was cold out there and rough and windy) and I'm sure I did something worthwhile but don't ask me what it was.  I mean I found a leaky water jug so there's that.  Oh, this was huge!  My oven works great so I used it to heat up left over pizza for the fellas.  It made the salon smell delish and even warmed it up a tiny smidge!  Now I just need to figure out what the pictures of a chicken, a fish and a loin of some kind next to the dial setting actually mean.  My recipes and bake instructions use wacky things like temperature not animal pictures for cooking.  Haha.  Insert annoying food post here ;-)

I mentioned in a Facebook post that we pulled over for a few minutes as we entered the Bay River...Pamalynn was feeling the bottom for a minute and while we stopped to be sure she was ok, DOLPHINS were all around us.  Coolest thing...swimming in front of, behind, and right up to the boat to check us out.  Jon thinks he got some photos of them.  It was seriously amazing. 

The shots of the water above are through out the day and I wish I could tell you exactly where each was but I did sneak this action shot of Captain Mark finessing the sail through the course changes and gusts.  He really is a strong captain and has a kinship with Stray Cat...not surprising after all the custom work and time he has put into her care.

We finally made it to Adams Creek and found a spot in Cedar Creek were both Stray Cat and Pamalynn could anchor.  We passed a sunken ship on the way--a few markers show you where to avoid. 

Markers for the sunken boat.

Jon is King of Anchoring and I am still at Court Jester level--he got our anchor set in no time and it held firm.  No surprise when Jon's taking care of it. 

Our bedtime home tonight

Shrimp Boats at a small creek by our anchorage

Mark and I took a ride over to Pamalynn for cocktail hour and they spoiled us with snacks and yummy food, including bread she made just before we arrived.  They shared their stories of the day and of there past cruises...gave us more great advice and were just plain ol' engaging storytellers. 

A little fuzzy but here's our girl

Sundown at our anchorage

Have I mentioned the wind?  I'm laying here listening to it howl even still but we are safe and secure and not rocking very much at all.  We'll have a nice night I think.  Tomorrow we will try to get to Camp Lejeune (get to see my military boys again) but we made 53 miles today with the help of that wind so the 50ish miles down there may be a bit much.  Hey, we'll go for it and see what happens.  Sure hope I got everything from today right but I know Jon and Mark will fill in any blanks for you...I know they were both were understandably tired after the day.  XO Suzanne