DAY TWENTY-THREE -- BEAUFORT TO BELLHAVEN, NC

                    DAY TWENTY-THREE -- BEAUFORT TO BELLHAVEN, NC

            We got underway at ten (after letting the Captain sleep in) on another hot and humid day. Our destination was the River Forest Marina in Bellhaven, NC, which I had booked the previous day. It looked like a nice place from their ad in the cruising guide, plus they offered free laundry facilities, which was timely. 

            This was an interesting cruising day because we spent most of it out in big open water, not running in channels and canals like we've been primarily doing since we left Georgia. The day started with a 15-mile run up the Adams Creek canal to the Neuse River, which is over five miles wide but rather shallow (about 20') and can develop a nasty chop depending on winds and currents. We lucked out with a light SW wind, which meant we had a following sea (running one to two feet with some whitecaps), but also meant that it felt like there was no breeze up on the flybridge. After running about twenty miles out the Neuse we turned NW into the Bay River, which led to a 5-mile canal that cut north across to Goose Creek, which in turn emptied into the Pamlico River. The Pamlico is another wide and shallow river, and we had to cross it with the waves coming from our port side, so we were rolling quite a bit until we reached the Pungo River on the opposite side. The wind by now had shifted around to the NW, so during our ten-mile run up the Pungo we were running head into a pretty nasty chop.

            While we had a few bumps along the way, it was a nice to be out on open water. The countryside is all pine trees and only lightly developed. We saw half a dozen cruising boats and hardly any local traffic. The choppy and murky water reminded me of the west end of Lake Erie. 

            The River Forest Marina turned out to be quite nice. A bit dated, but very clean and quiet, with good wi-fi service and good diesel pricing. (It was the first time we bought diesel fuel for under $6 since we left GA.) The facilities met the First Mate's standards, and we happily used their free washers and dryers. The name comes from the big house built at the turn of the previous century by the guy that brought the railroad to Bellhaven. At some point it turned to an inn, and they added the marina in the late 40s. It appears that most of their business now is doing weddings and parties in the big old house.  

            After doing laundry and blogging, we used one of the marina's free golf carts and drove into town for dinner. Bellhaven is not much of a town (2020 census population 1,410) that looks like it has seen better days (down from 2,430 in 1980). There were two restaurants to choose from and we chose the Mexican place based on the dockmaster's recommendation. It was crowded, but the food was very marginal. But they made good margaritas. 

 

            We are nearing the end of our journey on the intracoastal. The end of the line in Norfolk is 136 miles from here. Our target tomorrow is Elizabeth City, VA at mile 51, and then the day after we'll do the Dismal Swamp Canal. It is supposed to be one of the prettiest stretches on the intracoastal. It was surveyed by George Washington and opened in 1805.