Besties in Beaufort!

Beaufort, NC – Sunday, 4/25

It was a cool morning with overcast skies, but the rain had come and gone. Fortunately, the severe storms and gale-force winds did not materialize as forecasted. It did rain and we did get strong winds from the south, but not nearly as bad as expected and we were thankful we were on the north side of Beaufort.

Denise got up early and managed to get a load of laundry washed and dried with no wait.  We then borrowed the marina loaner car (one of two available); a fairly new van and used it to go to Church at St. Egberts. We were last here for the Easter vigil two years ago when it was crowded and mass lasted 2 hours.  However, today it was only 45 minutes long as they were anxious to get everyone out of this socially distanced, temperature taking, mask-wearing, super-spreader environment (sarcasm intended).

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We then took advantage of the loaner vehicle and drove out to the Super Walmart for a few things. Mark found their RV section to be great, so we bought an extra package of toilet paper (we have been Covid-trained), as well as a new short hose for the external water filter system as ours had a small leak.  We don’t like to have water dripping on the docks at a marina and wasting their water.  Denise purchased a few fresh produce items and then we made our way back to the marina.

Denise spent the entire day completing more loads of laundry and cataloging pictures.  Mark finally got a chance to wash all the salt off the boat, including the roof.  There were a few people on the water and they would cruise past our boat from either the marina next door (Beaufort Yacht Basin), or from across the one across the way (Town Creek Marina).  It is fun to see all the different boats that pass by, some of which you wonder how they even float, and others you know the people on them are drinking.

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The skies had cleared, but the wind picked up and about the time both of us finished our chores, the boat was bouncing around a bit.  The wind was now out of the northwest and north, and we were quite exposed.  So we got our showers and grabbed a quick cocktail and then headed into downtown Beaufort, about a half-mile away.

We had made arrangement with Brian (“Corporate Approved”) to meet up at 5:00 on his boat at the Beaufort Docks to share a pizza dinner.  He had two of his friends aboard (Tom & Jimmy) that were helping him get his boat home to New Baltimore, NY; home of Shady Harbor Marina – host of the AGLCA Pig Roast in June.  When we arrived, Brian was taking a nap after an afternoon of margarita drinking.  But he was so excited to see us and gave us the warmest welcome.  This was day two of being held in Beaufort as he damaged a prop in the ICW in Myrtle Beach, and required a haul-out and repair before continuing north.  The boat was scheduled for Monday at Jarrett Boat Works just north of Beaufort on the ICW.

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Brian is known for transporting interesting things back home to NY.  When we first met him in 2015 in Coinjock, VA, he had a marina power pedestal on the back deck of his boat. This year he had a life-size fake alligator he picked up at the Ft. Lauderdale boat show, and a stuffed sea turtle. Both will be put on display at his marina and we can’t wait to see it there.

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We spent a fun evening with these guys having drinks, socializing, eating pizza, and watching other boats go by. Eventually we got to see a killer sunset. 

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Finally, we had to say good-bye and look forward to our reunion at the Pig Roast in June. We got back to the boat just before 9:00 pm and found the wind had died down enough that the boat was no longer rocking.  This was good news as we were tired and wanted to get some sleep, which is exactly what we did.