CRUISING PART TWO

TO BEGIN AGAIN!!





When last we blogged in September, John and I were leaving the Lady in Wilmington, NC. We did our best to snuggle her into a secure hurricane hole off the Cape Fear River. All went well, although we think she got colder than we expected. Like almost everywhere else in the US this winter, Wilmington got the snow that it NEVER gets.

USS North Carolina WWII Battleship

We arrived back in Wilmington on May 25, 2011 to prepare for the next phase of our adventure.

AND ARE WE EXCITED.

This year we will get to lands and seas that we have never cruised before. With all the Lady's systems polished and ready to go, we said goodbye to our dock mates and headed out through Snow's Cut to the Rivers and Sounds of North Carolina on our way to Virginia and all points North to Canada.

Our first stop was Morehead City , NC then on to Belhaven, NC. The water here is very shallow immediately outside the channels. Almost as thin as Georgia. We did hit a shoal or something the first day,which caused the port engine to shut down. Captain John, however, was able to do a little thruster movement and things worked out well without getting SEATOW involved.

There are lots of osprey nesting everywhere and it's very fun to pass right by them and be able to look directly into their nests.

There's also lots of reasons why you should stay in the channels here.

On our way to Belhaven we saw more dolphins than we have seen anywhere at one time--pods and pods of them feeding in the river. Alas, I could get NO pictures. They were just too hungry and wouldn't pose. Tonight we have a chicken roast on the dock in Belhaven , but we will make it an early evening--tomorrow is Elizabeth City and into the Dismal Swamp on Wednesday.