Publish Date: Sunday, November 9, 2008
Location: Beaufort, NC
Coordinates: 34° 42.98′ N 76° 39.93′ W
In Beaufort (pronounced Bo-Fort, not Bu-fert) North Carolina things are starting to feel and look different. The water is clearer and beginning to have a greenish tint versus the brown of the Chesapeake and previous sections of the ICW. We spotted our first dolphins today frolicking in the harbor. You see more houses with porches and rocking chairs beckoning you to lounge and take life a bit slower. Ayla loves the accents, particularly the y’alls and words like darlin and precious. The people are friendly, as evidenced by the many hands turning up on the dock to help bring us in safely during some strong winds, and the dockmaster treating us all to welcome beers at the local bar (root beer for Ayla).
One of my favorite experiences thus far has been meeting Billy Page. As I was doing some push ups
on the dock, after returning from a beautiful morning run through this quaint town , I heard a voice behind me say, “That looks like an awful lot of work.” I turned and was greeted by a slender man, sporting a Nordhavn hat and a broad smile. ” I heard about your family, and your trip; and thought I would bring you some fresh muffins to say welcome to Beaufort.” In his hand he carried a bag filled with blueberrry and apple muffins—what a delight! He had heard about our trip from another couple cruising on Alanui a Nordhavn 40 (more about these awesome people later). He and is wife Linda live in Moorehead City (next door to Beaufort via bridge) and just thought he would come say hi. Billy and Linda own a Nordhavn 40 and hope to begin cruising on it more extensively next year.
Later in the day Billy returned with his wife Linda, giving Ayla and I a ride to great grocery store which carried organic produce and other items for healthful provisioning, and then took Dave to West Marine for some parts. Along the way they shared local history about Blackbeard’s flagship discovered just outside of Beaufort inlet, along with insights about local fishing and marine concerns. Here are two people we had never met before, bringing us fresh muffins and then spending the better part of their day chauffeuring us around—Billy and Linda are the epitome of true southern hospitality. Thank you for making us feel so welcome in Beaufort!
Billy, Linda and crew after shopping
Hey, I just got on your blog and had lots to catch up with! Very interesting.
It’s been fun since I was on the same route with Frank & Joan.
Thanks for the location notes. Your descriptions are so vivid (as are your daughter’s), I feel like I’m aboard with you all. I hope all this information will be available (or published) in the future so we might use it during our ICW journey someday.