April 24, 2019 Bear Creek Anchorage to Belhaven

April 24, 2019

Short day today on the water as we left our anchorage in Bear Creek and headed for Belhaven.   Anchor up at 8:30 with Martha at the helm and taking us out the narrow snaking passage as John  hosed down the  decks and anchor of the mud that came up with it.  I've been really impressed with how well this new Rockna anchor sets and holds.

Once out of Bear Creek we headed into Goose Creek canal which connects the Neuse River and Pamlico River.  Part natural creeks on both ends connected by a man made ditch.  Not much  going on here except for the town of Hobuken which is home to R.E. Mayo Seafood and Marine Supply  with it's fleet of boats and a high rise bridge that replaced the older swing bridge.

The Pamlico River was an easy crossing with light winds once again.  I played with the radar a bit while crossing knowing we had a couple boats ahead of us and a few behind.  Mostly just getting used to seeing what  the radar signals will look like  in open water and differentiating them  from known navigation aids.

Open water on the Pamlico but calm seas

Making a  left hand turn  off the Pamlico  onto the Pungo River had us headed right to Belhaven.  Sort of a unique harbor as it has a metal breakwater wall across Pantego Creek which the town faces to control wave action.  We're tied up at the town docks which are across the street from the  Chamber of Commerce and before we could get fully secure Diane the Chamber Executive Director  was  alongside with a welcome package.

Approaching the breakwater

Waterfront homes in Belhaven

Tied up and secured

We had been to Belhaven during our trip  down in the fall when the town was still recovering from the terrible flooding  this part of the state experienced last year.  We could see where water had risen  several feet into the downtown stores.  Several had been cleaned out and reopened but many were still in various stages of renovation.  Happy to report that all is well and even their best restaurant  Spoon River has reopened.  Delicious flounder for Martha and Mahi for John.  After a walk around downtown and talking to the crew on several other boats tied to the dock we watched  another great sunset.

We're tied up here for a few days to travel to a family gathering in Carolina Beach and then hoping we get a weather window for our next  section  which is a long run up the Alligator River and across the Albemarle Sound to Elizabeth City.  The weather gods have been kind to us so far but it looks like some windy weather for the foreseeable future.