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Ashore Travel

Beaufort, NC

Beaufort is one of those places that I could absolutely see myself calling home. Much like Cape May, it’s reminiscent of Cape Cod in little subtle ways that are hard to describe. Some are obvious – the National Seashore, the commercial fishing, the tourism – and others are more of a feeling. I love the […]

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Travel Under Way

Oriental to Beaufort, NC

One of the best things about this lifestyle is getting to meet so many other people with similar interests. Another member of the Catalina Owners Association reached out and offered to meet up and help us provision or get anything we needed. We were already well stocked, just having done a provisioning run in Belhaven, […]

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Travel

Belhaven to Oriental, NC

This was exactly what I needed – an absolutely gorgeous, low-stress trip. We had early morning fog that had burned off by the time we got under way and before we passed Belhaven town, the clouds were burning off too. The wind was too light to sail, but it turned out to be the perfect, […]

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Ashore Travel

Belhaven, NC

We split our time in Belhaven between being on the hook in Pantego Creek and a slip at Dowry Creek Marina. We had some amazing weather, from stunning sunrises to intense thunderstorms and two days of all-day silent skies. While the nights were cool, the days were comfortable. We took a couple dinghy cruises – […]

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Travel Under Way

Alligator River to Belhaven

Today was one of the days I was most looking forward to on this trip. When we did this trip with our friend, I was in awe the whole time and I couldn’t wait to do it on our boat. It’s one of those places that you truly have to experience to fully appreciate, and […]

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Travel Under Way

North River to Alligator River

I was glad to see the sunrise, and by the time we finished breakfast, the parade of boats heading south was already under way. As we navigated the twisty section of channel immediately following our anchorage, I was especially glad that we’d been able to drop the hook. Being over-tired, I was prone to being […]

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Travel Under Way

Any Port in a Storm

It was too dark to see the daymarks, but we were in an area where missing the channel meant a high probability of running afoul of fish stakes, grounding or both. Not knowing where the channel was headed, it was hard for me to buoy spot. I pulled up the charts on Chris’s phone in […]

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Travel Under Way

Norfolk to… Somewhere

I was so excited to finally be starting the ICW, but today was not without its challenges. The wind was up, and it made getting off the dock and getting fuel difficult. That delayed us enough that we didn’t think we could make the 1100 lock for the Dismal Swamp, and missing that meant we […]

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Ashore Travel

Norfolk, VA

When we originally planned the trip, we considered only staying one night in Norfolk. Between it being a city and the surrounding area being so industrial, we figured we wouldn’t really like it all that much. But it turned out to be a really cool stop, and as I find myself saying over and over […]

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Travel Under Way

Night Run to Norfolk

After three or four days of sustained 20kt winds with 25kt gusts, yesterday was finally settled enough for us to depart mid-afternoon. While I was a little sad to leave Deltaville behind, I was happy to finally move on.  Periods of rain and drizzle mixed with sunny skies, creating amazingly dramatic skies, including a few […]