We had our coffees and headed out a little later than usual. We were ‘off like a herd of turtles’ as my dad always said trying to get me and my three sisters anywhere on time. The ride was mostly through a canal with homes along the water and docks everywhere. Carrie was captaining and saw a school of large Cobia fish that looked like swarming sharks.
Once we were out of the canal we started to see the blue waters of Beaufort, NC. It is crazy how quickly we moved into the clear water once we hit this point. We spent two days in Beaufort, NC and could have spent weeks. Even in the relentless heat it was an awesome place to be. That is until the boat started sinking.
We had just gotten anchored and were collecting our things together to go to shore when water started pouring into the port hull. It was gushing in fast behind the galley and the bilge pumps could not keep up. John yelled for Carrie to get the emergency plug and for me to grab the fins and snorkel so he could dive down and see what was happening.
We sprung into action. I jumped into the front starboard compartment throwing lines and ripping open the bag of snorkeling equipment. My heart was in my throat and sweat was pouring down my face. I could hear Carrie tearing apart our emergency closet looking for the bright orange plug. With the fins in my hand I leaped for the cockpit on shakey legs.
Thats when I heard John yell “Stop!” Carrie and I stared at each other, hands full. We could hear water splashing but no longer rushing into the galley. “It’s the water tank, it’s just the water tank, damn thing blew a line”. That, in a nutshell, is kind of like all boating life so far; amazing adventures sprinkled with absolute terror, ending in one more thing on the boat needing to be fixed!
Once John figured out a way to MacGyver the system until we locate the correct parts, we were finally able to get off the boat. The first night in Beaufort we walked all the shops, had amazing food at Rhumbar, got treats at the General Store, and walked up and down Front Street to Sunset Street. There were beautiful homes and boats and an awesome sunset. We ended up staying out until dark lighting our dinghy back ‘home’ with our cellphones in the air.
Thursday morning we woke early and had coffees on the boat before we set off to hike Carrot Island, home to around 120 wild horses. They roam freely on the island eating sea grass and digging holes in the sand to get fresh water. Their population is monitored and managed with the administration of contraception at appropriate times ensuring that the horses can live their lifetime on the island without over population.
It is also home to smaller animals and many species of birds. There are inner and outer loops you can hike and protected areas have signs so you don’t trample the wrong places or mess up their ecosystem. We saw very little disruption from humans besides footprints in the sand. I could go every day. Horses can be seen in the distance and although the paths showed signs of the horses, we did not run into any.
After our hike we went inland for iced coffees, more window shopping, a visit to the North Carolina Maritime Museum, and some delicious grub at Front Street Taco. We returned to Irish Eyes at 1pm and Carrie and John got to work freeing her anchors and pointing her south towards Swansboro, NC. We are tired and we work hard and sometimes we scare the hell out of ourselves, but the rewards are great. These past few days in Beaufort have definitely been worth any trip it took to get there!
So unbelievably amazing!!!
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