Orion sits on the dock at R. E. Mayo
After 2 weeks in Charleston, we had a brief window to hop outside and move north to Southport, NC, which we did on Mother’s Day Sunday (May 10). From there, another outside hop to Beaufort and into the ICW has brought us to R. E. Mayo, Inc., a commercial dock in tiny Hobucken, NC between the Pamlico and Neuse rivers. The winds outside will keep us here for a while.
Stormy Weather
We have become used to calm, sunny trips as we make our runs out in the ocean, but it was probably time for our good fortune to come to an end. While we stayed put in Charleston for 2 weeks, the weather was calm and beautiful (of course). It was only when we started looking for traveling weather that we began to see forecasts for days of unsettled weather – fronts, thunderstorms, winds. We needed to move on, but it was going to be tricky finding the right window. We finally decided to get ready to go, so we could act quickly on any change in the forecast. That opportunity arrived the very next day. But it would not be the sunny trip we had become used to.
When we checked the weather Sunday morning, the sea state forecast was mild the and winds were going to be southerly. The only concern was the usual “isolated” thunderstorms in the forecast. These hadn’t materialized for days, and if we didn’t go now, it would be at least 3 days before we could try again. We talked to Heidi and Ken on Rising Tide, who were looking to make a similar hop. We both talked each other into it and were underway in less than an hour.
The trip from Charleston to Southport is a short one – less than 24 hours – so a late start was actually good, ensuring we would arrive at the Cape Fear inlet in daylight. It was sunny, with a light wind as we rode the ebbing current out the inlet. After a brief hope that we could sail or at least motorsail a bit, we resigned ourselves to another motoring trip. But the calm winds were telling us something. It wasn’t long before dark clouds appeared on the horizon, followed by the repeated wailing of the NOAA weather alarm on our VHF radio. It didn’t look like we would dodge the weather this time. For hours, thunder and lightning could be heard and seen around us. There were severe storms being sighted, some with winds over 60 mph, but they all seemed to pass north or south of us. In the end, all we experienced were light showers, and they weren’t that bad. We considered ourselves very lucky. We were on the dock at South Harbor Village by 8:15a on Monday morning, and thankful to be so. Within a couple of hours, the skies turned black again with a more direct hit of a thunderstorm that we would not have liked to have seen out in the ocean.
Putting together a plan for the next hop up the NC coast proved even more difficult than the last one. After we arrived on Monday, a front rolled through, with days of high winds from the northeast following it. We even tried to slog our way north against 3 foot standing waves in the Cape Fear river before asking ourselves: why are we doing this? Finally, we developed a plan to chance an outside run to Beaufort, NC. At 6 knots, this is only a 19 hour run. So, we once again needed to leave late in the day to arrive after dawn.
Pulling out of the marina around 1pm, we soon found ourselves all alone as we motored southeast into the 4 to 5 foot seas along the edge of Frying Pan shoals, before being able to turn northeast toward Beaufort. We knew from listening to the nets in the morning that there were others heading to Beaufort, but they were further offshore. We wouldn’t see them on our trip. As the sun set, the clouds were building, but no thunderstorms were within sight. We knew that something was likely to come sooner or later. Sure enough, around 1am the rain descended, and it poured. We scrambled to re-install the glass panels we had removed in Charleston when the temperatures soared. After drying ourselves and the cockpit, we continued on to Beaufort. The rain had brought the wind with it, so we put out the headsail and turned off the engine, sailing on it for most of the night. Even though our speed dropped over that time, it was a conscious decision to slow down, since we were moving too fast under power and would have arrived at the inlet before dawn. Instead, we arrived at the sea buoy just after dawn and just after low tide, enjoying a favorable (or at least slack) current as we headed in past Beaufort, Morehead City and into Core Creek toward the Neuse River.
We had seen our share of rain as we made our way north, but had managed to dodge the thunderstorms in all of the forecasts. Since more were on their way, with a front expected to last for several days, including gale force winds, we once again looked for a place to ride out the weather. This time we chose the RE Mayo dock on the Hobucken Cut at the top of the Neuse River.
Family Connections
For the first time, we managed to connect with Cathy’s family while they were staying in Sunset Beach. Our arrival in Southport, just 30 miles north, coincided with their Mother’s Day visit to the beach. They came to visit us on Orion, some seeing the boat for the first time. We spent part of 3 days together either on the boat or at the beach house. (Thanks to the use of a car for part of one day, we also managed to shop the latest price reductions at Boater’s World and have a few more trinkets for the boat.)
Stormy Weather
We have become used to calm, sunny trips as we make our runs out in the ocean, but it was probably time for our good fortune to come to an end. While we stayed put in Charleston for 2 weeks, the weather was calm and beautiful (of course). It was only when we started looking for traveling weather that we began to see forecasts for days of unsettled weather – fronts, thunderstorms, winds. We needed to move on, but it was going to be tricky finding the right window. We finally decided to get ready to go, so we could act quickly on any change in the forecast. That opportunity arrived the very next day. But it would not be the sunny trip we had become used to.
When we checked the weather Sunday morning, the sea state forecast was mild the and winds were going to be southerly. The only concern was the usual “isolated” thunderstorms in the forecast. These hadn’t materialized for days, and if we didn’t go now, it would be at least 3 days before we could try again. We talked to Heidi and Ken on Rising Tide, who were looking to make a similar hop. We both talked each other into it and were underway in less than an hour.
The trip from Charleston to Southport is a short one – less than 24 hours – so a late start was actually good, ensuring we would arrive at the Cape Fear inlet in daylight. It was sunny, with a light wind as we rode the ebbing current out the inlet. After a brief hope that we could sail or at least motorsail a bit, we resigned ourselves to another motoring trip. But the calm winds were telling us something. It wasn’t long before dark clouds appeared on the horizon, followed by the repeated wailing of the NOAA weather alarm on our VHF radio. It didn’t look like we would dodge the weather this time. For hours, thunder and lightning could be heard and seen around us. There were severe storms being sighted, some with winds over 60 mph, but they all seemed to pass north or south of us. In the end, all we experienced were light showers, and they weren’t that bad. We considered ourselves very lucky. We were on the dock at South Harbor Village by 8:15a on Monday morning, and thankful to be so. Within a couple of hours, the skies turned black again with a more direct hit of a thunderstorm that we would not have liked to have seen out in the ocean.
Putting together a plan for the next hop up the NC coast proved even more difficult than the last one. After we arrived on Monday, a front rolled through, with days of high winds from the northeast following it. We even tried to slog our way north against 3 foot standing waves in the Cape Fear river before asking ourselves: why are we doing this? Finally, we developed a plan to chance an outside run to Beaufort, NC. At 6 knots, this is only a 19 hour run. So, we once again needed to leave late in the day to arrive after dawn.
Pulling out of the marina around 1pm, we soon found ourselves all alone as we motored southeast into the 4 to 5 foot seas along the edge of Frying Pan shoals, before being able to turn northeast toward Beaufort. We knew from listening to the nets in the morning that there were others heading to Beaufort, but they were further offshore. We wouldn’t see them on our trip. As the sun set, the clouds were building, but no thunderstorms were within sight. We knew that something was likely to come sooner or later. Sure enough, around 1am the rain descended, and it poured. We scrambled to re-install the glass panels we had removed in Charleston when the temperatures soared. After drying ourselves and the cockpit, we continued on to Beaufort. The rain had brought the wind with it, so we put out the headsail and turned off the engine, sailing on it for most of the night. Even though our speed dropped over that time, it was a conscious decision to slow down, since we were moving too fast under power and would have arrived at the inlet before dawn. Instead, we arrived at the sea buoy just after dawn and just after low tide, enjoying a favorable (or at least slack) current as we headed in past Beaufort, Morehead City and into Core Creek toward the Neuse River.
We had seen our share of rain as we made our way north, but had managed to dodge the thunderstorms in all of the forecasts. Since more were on their way, with a front expected to last for several days, including gale force winds, we once again looked for a place to ride out the weather. This time we chose the RE Mayo dock on the Hobucken Cut at the top of the Neuse River.
Family Connections
For the first time, we managed to connect with Cathy’s family while they were staying in Sunset Beach. Our arrival in Southport, just 30 miles north, coincided with their Mother’s Day visit to the beach. They came to visit us on Orion, some seeing the boat for the first time. We spent part of 3 days together either on the boat or at the beach house. (Thanks to the use of a car for part of one day, we also managed to shop the latest price reductions at Boater’s World and have a few more trinkets for the boat.)
While enjoying lunch on the boat with Cathy’s mom and sister, we watched this dredge move in through a narrow opening near our boat to a position inside one of the fairways. The winds were howling that day and the current was running fast, but the boat was helped by the bulldozer operator, who put his shovel on the bottom to steady the barge as it moved through the opening.
Charleston - Parting Shots
Charleston continues to be our favorite stop on the trip along the east coast. We sampled some of the familiar places on Market Street and took in some new sites, such as the Charleston RiverDogs AA Baseball game and the new Star Trek movie at the new Hippodrome theater. Most everything is either in walking distance or on a bus line. On Sunday, we walked to the nearby Redeemer Presbyterian church their Sunday service and an after-church program to highlight their ministries. When Dave learned their Missions team was heading to Uganda, he was able to connect the team leader with friends of ours living there and running a mission to help orphaned children. We also managed to meet up with one of Cathy’s cousins who live in Charleston on one of our walks as well.
Charleston continues to be our favorite stop on the trip along the east coast. We sampled some of the familiar places on Market Street and took in some new sites, such as the Charleston RiverDogs AA Baseball game and the new Star Trek movie at the new Hippodrome theater. Most everything is either in walking distance or on a bus line. On Sunday, we walked to the nearby Redeemer Presbyterian church their Sunday service and an after-church program to highlight their ministries. When Dave learned their Missions team was heading to Uganda, he was able to connect the team leader with friends of ours living there and running a mission to help orphaned children. We also managed to meet up with one of Cathy’s cousins who live in Charleston on one of our walks as well.
The Maritime Center continues to be a hub of activity as well. There are private parties on the grounds, some of which we get invited to, such as the Dining with Friends benefit (a wonderful dessert buffet) and an Air Force party on the Spirit of SC. Other boats come and go, including some old friends, such as Chris and Lee on Namaste, who arrived just before we left. And behind it all is the magnificent backdrop of activity in the harbor with the huge ships coming and going. It just is tough to beat.
RE Mayo docks on Hobucken Cut.
R. E. Mayo, Inc.
For the first time, we stopped at R E Mayo, Inc., a dock for commercial fisherman. It appears to be the end of an era for this institution on the waterway. We spent an afternoon talking with the owner and the store clerks. Roy, the owner is in his 90’s and full of stories of his life on the water over the past century. There were also discussions of the hard times for the local commercial fishing fleet, struggling under the restrictions of government regulations and the competitive pressures of farmed fish stocks. The docks were mostly empty of commercial boats, but the local recreational fisherman had pulled up their chairs and taken advantage of the vacancies to pull in croakers, drum and sea bass.
We waited out several days of wind and rain before moving on, but we got a new perspective on this rural outpost after our prolonged stay there.
For the first time, we stopped at R E Mayo, Inc., a dock for commercial fisherman. It appears to be the end of an era for this institution on the waterway. We spent an afternoon talking with the owner and the store clerks. Roy, the owner is in his 90’s and full of stories of his life on the water over the past century. There were also discussions of the hard times for the local commercial fishing fleet, struggling under the restrictions of government regulations and the competitive pressures of farmed fish stocks. The docks were mostly empty of commercial boats, but the local recreational fisherman had pulled up their chairs and taken advantage of the vacancies to pull in croakers, drum and sea bass.
We waited out several days of wind and rain before moving on, but we got a new perspective on this rural outpost after our prolonged stay there.
Barges pass close by on the cut as we lay on R E Mayo’s dock.
