We’re Back on a repaired vessel after being home for 3 and a half weeks. Although we missed being on the boat, we packed in lots of doctor’s appointments and watched the destruction—sorry—demo of our master bathroom during that time. I was also able to swing a visit to mom’s for a few days.  We came home to unseasonably cool temps and, I can’t even believe I’m saying this, less humidity than in NC.  

We left Beaufort, NC on Saturday, August 22nd taking the Intracoastal Waterway  27 miles to Oriental, NC landing at a beautiful resort marina called River Dunes. We had a headphone mishap as we were reaching the dock as one of them went dead. The last thing Tom heard me say was that I was on the swim platform and then I was gone. After what seemed like more than a few minutes, he opened the hatch and yelled down to me. He was worried that he had lost me off the back of the boat, but I didn’t even realize we had lost the connection. I kept talking, he just wasn’t responding. This is not AB-normal. No worries. We were able to dock without issue. 

We stayed two nights at River Dunes marina and resort in Oriental which was, for lack of a better word, quaint. A residential-resort/marina with  great amenities placed in a very protected spot. So protected, in fact, that I didn’t have cell service for two nights. It was a small price to pay. We spent a day catching up with laundry and washing down the boat. 

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We left River Dunes on Monday, August 24 and headed across Pamlico Sound towards Ocracoke Island. Pamlico Sound is a large body of water surrounded by the mainland and barrier islands. This trip was probably the smoothest ride so far. 

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Ocracoke Island is a vacation destination with a fair amount of rooms and homes to rent. We had lunch and hopped on a rented golf cart to explore a bit. The island isn’t huge and this is a good way to get around. We buzzed by the lighthouse, the shopping district (mostly souvenir stuff) and the British Cemetery.

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Because we could not enter the National Park on the golf cart, we turned it in Tuesday afternoon and rented a real Jeep on Wednesday. Our plan was to see the beach and check out the ponies who are descendants of 16th century Spanish mustangs. The story is that their ancestors were survivors of a nearby shipwreck. They’ve been a part of the island ever since.

Wednesday really turned out to be a wonderful day. Ocracoke National Seashore beach is my favorite kind of beach—steady wind, waves crashing, few people and accessible by Jeep! We stayed for a few hours and met a crab I’m naming Richard. He just looked like a “Richard” to me. 

Anyhoo, I’ve never seen crabs this large actually on the beach. As the wave washed over his spot it washed his cover away so he was exposed for a minute or two until we got close.  Then he dug back in.

Tom uncovered him with his foot and Richard came up fighting as evidenced by his claws at the ready. And he never backed down! Just waited with pincers up in the air saying “Bring it on!”  He was cute and we let him get back to it after posing for some pictures.

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It seems our plans about where we are going to be and when we will be there change frequently. Our general direction is North, but exactly “where” changes most of the time. We get an idea of where we want to go next, check the distance to see if it’s doable in a day, then search out marinas that can handle our boat as well as offer the services we want—restaurant, pool, showers, laundry, groceries nearby, etc. Some marinas have all of the above but some are just bare bones. 

That being said, tomorrow (Thursday if you’re keeping track) we are headed to Manteo, NC. Some place I’ve never heard of yet am excited to check out. It should be another smooth day of traveling the 60ish miles. We’ll be there through the weekend. We’re hoping to have another of our AC units looked at by a professional.

Listen, it wouldn’t be an adventure if there weren’t some inconveniences along the way. With 2020 going the way it has been, we’re just happy to be chugging along at this point. By the way, is Covid gone yet?

Below are some additional Ocracoke pictures just for your viewing pleasure.

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