Captains Log 11/07/06

Departure Point / Start Time Oriental, NC 10AM
Arrival Point / End Time Beaufort, NC 2 PM
Distance Traveled 22 NM
Currently in Beaufort, NC

Today was an easy traveling day. We are in Beaufort NC. Reminds me of Newport, RI in many ways. We motored the entire way through the canal connecting Pamlico sound and Beaufort NC. We are only few miles from the open ocean. I am sick of motoring the ICW. So we are looking into short offshore legs from now on. On the way into beaufort, we had to pass through a rough section of the Morehead City Channel because the current was flowing out, and the winds were opposing it. The winds lifted to about 25-30knots and the current of 2 knots was flowing into them. This made seas look like they are boiling. I had to bare-off downwind quickly to shut down the wind generator. Then we headed back up into very steep chop. The problematic section was only 2 miles before Beaufort. With current going our way, we were still making about 4 knots motoring into the chop. But with heavy rain and wind for few minutes I couldn't see anything. At times it was a bit scary because the entrance to Beaufort is a very narrow channel with shoaling on both sides. With the rain coming down hard it looked impossible to navigate. But were lucked out. The rain stopped just enough for us to see the way. The depth meter started scaring me a bit with readings in the 9s. With such heavy shop, wind and current, I didn't want to come close to any shoals. Anyway, we made it in and the inside was completely different. Nice calm harbor with just the strong current. The anchorage was packed, even worse then Oriental. But we motored all the way through, saw all the same boats from Oriental, and kept on going into Taylor Creek until we found a spot that looked like it could suit us. There is plenty of water in Taylor Creek. We found a spot next to bunch of private moorings with small wooden day-sailing sloops. The guide recommended setting two anchors but stubborn me decided to drop only one. Why am I so stubborn? I have no idea. I should have taken the advice of the cruising guide. Why did I even buy the damn thing if I don't follow it all the time. Anyway, the evening was horrible with rain and wind blowing in the 20s down Taylor Creek. Nobody got any sleep because of the current. The tide makes the current flow in one direction, for about 6 hours, going from slack, to about 2 knots and then back to slack. Then it shifts 180 degrees and does the same thing. If the current and wind line up and flow in the same direction everything is ok, the anchor line is tight, and all the boats line up in the same direction. You can sleep. But if the wind and current oppose each other, which happens half the time, the boat does some weird things like rotate in circles around the anchor. The anchor shifted completely and we almost ran into a dock. Then we shifted to the other side of the creek and touched one of the small daysailing sloops. We put bumpers so that the boats wouldn't scratch against each other. I was worried of chain getting tangled in the other boats mooring. But it didn't.So the next morning I dug out the other chain and rope from below the cockpit, and took a small 25lbs danforth anchor in an attempt to set a second anchor. I had 100 feet of 3/8BBB chain on 150 feet of nylon rope. This is a definite overkill for a second anchor line but better to be safe then sorry. I tied the chain to the back of the boat and dropped the rest of the chain into the dinghy. I let the current take me down the creek away from the first anchor. After the chain stretched completely from the boat, I dropped the anchor. This aligned the boat along the creek and the two anchors (one off the bow, and one off the stern) now work perfectly together. This is what they call the Bahamian moor. Accept that I didn't tie both chains to the bow. I didn't want the boat rotating at all. I wanted it aligned along the narrow creek. So far it worked perfect, plenty of sleep and time to wonder around town.