Our little anchorage was so well protected that we decided to stay. Monday started out sunny and beautiful, and we enjoyed our morning coffee to a chorus of birds chirping all around us. Later in the day, the clouds filled in, bringing rain and chilly temperatures that stuck around most of the week. Tuesday rained all day, and while there was no rain in the forecast and nothing on radar for Wednesday, we had a dense fog that turned into a miserable, misty rain. Everything that leaks was, well, leaking, and with all the rain, we were unable to run our generator. Our house batteries ended up so low that we had to turn off the fridge and use our Luci light instead of the cabin lights or our anchor light* (I’m especially glad I picked up a second one now!). While I absolutely love doing this, it’s sometimes frustrating, especially when you plan a week on anchor and end up with garbage weather the whole time and you’re watching your power draw down as you’re trying to work and doing the “generator shuffle”.
Thursday morning was just foggy, so we were finally able to head into town. We had breakfast at the Colonial Cafe, and while it may not look like much, they had the best shrimp n’ grits we’ve had (and my biscuits n’ gravy was pretty amazing too – definitely get the baked apples on the side). After work, we stopped in at the Seven Sounds brewery and tried the Perfect Day porter and Dark Waves stout, both of which we really enjoyed. I’m always surprised at how good some of these little microbreweries are. We had a nice dinner at 2 Souls Wine Bar – a nice charcuterie board and an order of pimento cheese (which I’ve become totally addicted to). I wish we’d been able to explore a bit more of the town, but it was nice to at least get out a little.
On Friday morning, we left our pretty little anchorage in Forbes Bay and dropped the hook in the Machelhe Island anchorage which is closer to town so we could get groceries. Not shockingly, there were storms in the forecast for the afternoon, so I put together our Instacart order early and took Squall to the Mid-Atlantic Christian University docks to get everything. By the time I got back, the wind was already kicking up. Fortunately we only had a brief, intense thunderstorm (with tornado watches, but no warnings!).
After work, we decided to move a little farther up river so we didn’t have to get up as early to make sure we made the 8:30 opening of the South Mills lock. The scenery was incredible, and we found ourselves tucking up into a beautiful, well-protected anchorage behind Goat Island a little before sunset. We were totally alone except for the osprey, cormorants, egrets, herons, and a chorus of bullfrogs and peppers – with a cameo by a distant owl.
As the sun started to set, a storm cloud approached and there was a really vibrant rainbow right off our bow. I thought we were in for some nasty weather but the storm bypassed us, leaving us with a stunning sunset. We spent a perfectly peaceful night, and I was almost sad to not be able to stay longer.
*I’m aware that it’s not a legal anchor light. But with our batteries low enough for a further drain to be damaging, we figured it’s better than the alternative. IMO, something is better than nothing.
