Stay Over in Beaufort NC

Apr 6 thru Apr 9

—Blogpost written by Bob

First Stay Over Day in Beaufort

Saturday (April 6) was our first full stay over day in Beaufort.  We went grocery shopping (using the marina's loaner car) at the local Food Lion--it took us all morning!

Lola loves watching the seagulls 
in this marina!

We had lunch outdoors at Black Sheep again (but a different type of pizza this time).  While we were having lunch Towboat US towed in a 42-foot Beneteau whose engine had overheated while attempting to deal with wind gusts up to 50 knots offshore.  They were battered and bruised and couldn't figure out why the engine was overheating.


Today has been overcast for a while, then sunny for a while--it was changing back and forth most of the day.  Near the end of the day it was completely overcast again.  The outside temperature was in the low to mid-70's and the 5 to 10-knot breeze was cool.  It was a very pleasant day overall.  I wished (out loud, in fact) that we could stay here for a week.  I really like Beaufort!  (Beaufort is similar to Annapolis but a lot smaller and more laid back.)

The view from the second floor over the
marina office.  The docks were not
crowded at this time since we are
about a week ahead of the
northbound boat traffic.

After lunch we checked out the operating hours of the laundry across the street from the marina and found out that they are closed on Sundays (tomorrow)--so, we went back to the boat and gathered up our dirty laundry.

While Maggie was doing laundry I changed the oil and oil filter for the engine.  The only time-consuming part of this job is that the vacuum extractor takes time to remove the oil.  I checked the coolant and transmission fluid and all was well.  Shortly after 4 PM all our jobs were done for the day and it was time for happy hour.

s/v Fritha of Fairhaven, MA docked
at Beaufort Docks.  (Note the large
modern multifunction display
with a white cover forward
of the wheel. This boat
is 74 feet long.

Second Stay Over Day in Beaufort

Sunday (April 7) was our second (and last) full stay over day in Beaufort.  The weather was nearly perfect, clear skies and sunshine, low 60's in the morning and low 70''s in the afternoon--incidentally, this is the same as the typical winter weather in Bermuda.  

We decided to go out for a light breakfast at a local coffee shop, Cru Wine Bar & Coffee Shop, on Turner Street.  The coffee was great and the breakfast sandwiches were good (they were prepackaged).  We came back to the boat and did some small boat errands like doing dishes, catching up with our travel plan, blog writing, etc.

While I was working at my laptop in the navigation station this morning, I watched Lola in the cockpit reach up and pull the zipper down on the port side window then proceed to walk around the deck.  She is just too smart and has too much dexterity!

We ate lunch at Mezcalito, a Mexican restaurant, across the street from Beaufort Docks--it was very good!  After a brief bit of window shopping, we came back to the boat and did some reading in the cockpit.

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I have noted that our boat is a little too heavy at the stern.  I would like to remedy this over the summer.  When I add the water maker, I will be eliminating a 30-gallon fresh water tank (weight full = 260 pounds) on the port side.  We also talked about the possibility of shifting our storage of soda cans (five 12-packs of soda = 50 pounds) further forward.  We know that we will not be carrying as much weight in our quarter berth as we did this year (spare heater and shore power cable, dock steps, etc.).  (Later when we filled the forward fresh water tank, the boat leveled out a little better but it was still a bit heavy on the back end.)

Maggie filling the fresh water tanks
in preparation for leaving
Beaufort tomorrow.

The Beaufort Docks in the evening.  (Note
how empty the slips are at the moment.)

Third Stay Over Day in Beaufort

We intended to leave Beaufort this morning (Monday, April 8) but when we went to start the engine--the starter just went "clunk."  This happened once before recently but not quite as bad--it started with difficulty last Thursday morning in Wrightsville Beach.  (The batteries are in great condition judging by the system voltage.)  We called a highly recommended local mechanic to investigate the starter problem and he may be here sometime late in the day. 

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Today was an unplanned stay over day.   We decided to stay over tomorrow as well since rain was expected all day.  The weather today is sunny and temperate though mildly overcast at times.

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A few of my thoughts about Beaufort Docks are as follows:
(1) Even though away from the ICW by a couple or three miles, the marina has great access to the ocean.
(2) The people that run the marina and help you dock are older guys and very knowledgeable, probably the best anywhere along the ICW.
(3) This marina is the closest one to town--the town's shops are right across the street.
(4) The water in this marina is very clean--its a jade green color.

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We had a delicious lunch at the Beaufort Grocery Company on Queen Street about a block from our boat slip.  After lunch we came back to the boat and I cleared out the starboard cockpit locker for access to the starter and its wiring.  I again looked over all the cables and pulled at them to see if I could find a loose connection but I didn't fond one.  So I read while we waited for the diesel mechanic to arrive...

Access to the engine's starter is through the
starboard cockpit locker.  I removed every-
thing from the locker in preparation for
the diesel mechanic's arrival.

The diesel mechanic never showed up later in the day.  Hopefully he will be here tomorrow morning. (I later got a text message that he was delayed on another job.)

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In the late afternoon a fog bank rolled in off the ocean.  The air was laden with moisture.  There was a sailboat sailing in the harbor with his hard dinghy trailing behind.

A sailboat sailing in the midst of a fog bank.

Fourth Stay Over Day in Beaufort

Tuesday (April 9) was our fourth stay over day in Beaufort NC and our second unplanned stay over day.  It rained in the early morning and by afternoon it became quite warm (mid 70's).  The sky was overcast most of the remainder of the day but the sun peeked through the clouds from time to time.

The diesel mechanic (Brooke Hayden @ 833.259.0342) got to our boat at mid-morning and quickly identified and solved the problem--the ground connection on the engine had vibrated loose.  I thought it was something like this but I couldn't find a loose connection.  He removed a cable clamp that was preventing the bolt from being securely tightened.  Then he sanded all the connectors and reassembled everything.  It started fine after that!

We went out for lunch at Moonraker's which is on the waterfront.  We had an excellent lunch and a piece of perfect key lime pie for dessert!

We were halfway through this piece of perfect
key lime pie when I took this photo.

We, then, borrowed the loaner car and picked up a few grocery items we forgot a couple days ago.  When we came back we settled up at the office for the additional two nights we stayed here.
We got showers in the afternoon and prepared to leave in the morning.  Stay tuned for more of our adventure in getting back to the Chesapeake Bay...

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