We were up early today, clocks set back mean sunrise is now an hour earlier at 06:30. It was cold, but sunny and clear with a breeze from the WNW.
We motored west against the wind until the Pungo River turns south where we raised sails and enjoyed a nice reach down the Pungo and across the Pamlico River. We dropped sails as we approached the south shore of the Pamlico and turned west and upwind to enter Goose Creek and continue southward.
Lots of boats are making their way south on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). I find amusing how they often get close to each other as they follow "the magenta line", a line on the chart that denotes the ICW's route, even when there is plenty of sea room on either side of the line. They negotiate over the radio to pass one another as if on a narrow country lane. This is helpful in a narrow river or canal, but is pretty ridiculous when there is a mile of deep water on either side of the line. Amusing.
Goose Creek does get pretty narrow but then leads into the Bay River which then merges in to the Neuse River, where we turned west again and followed the north shore to the channel leading into the town of Oriental. Oriental was one our favorite stops on the way north and it's nice to be able to visit again.
We docked at the free town dock, at first pulling next to a huge steel fishing boat, a very tight fit between docks. Then I inspected the fishing boat's dock lines and concluded that if any wind significant wind at all came from the east, Intermezzo could be crushed like an egg. So, we moved to the other side of the town dock to be safe.
We took a walk this afternoon and had a snack at Bartley's, whose owner did us a good turn last summer.
It was really hot when we were here last July. It's quite cold now and no electricity on the dock means nbo heat on the boat.
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| Too close for comfort |
