A Day off the boat in Beaufort. NC And then up the ICW

I love Beaufort NC (pronounced Bofort). Many of the houses are from early 18C and of course there is always the stroll around the graveyard. Best history lesson. This one starts at 1709 AD and has soldiers from the civil war buried there. A British general buried standing up ( pompous git I say ), a lot of family deaths from yellow fever and one sad one where the girl died returning from London. The father bought a casket of rum from the captain to place her in so that she could be preserved and buried at home .

There are so many moments of reflection on a trip like this. Looking at the stars, the quiet of the graveyard and then the next thing you have to have your body in contortions trying to fix the bilge ,,, AGAIN only this time it’s something different.

I asked Pat how could there be two things that go wrong with a bilge but he just said ‘it’s a boat’. We think we’ve got it this time.

Beaufort has a wonderful little group of museum houses which give a terrific glimpse into life in the early 18 C

The glass decorations above are made from human hair. The guide was exclaiming that she thought it was a bit grotesque but I upped it when I told her about the museum in Nova Scotia where they covered the Bible with granny’s skin. (True!)

I became so immersed in the history that I forgot to take photographs and as I was writing this I decided I wanted you to see the rooms and the apothecary. I called the ladies from the Welcome center. They were so good as guides I thought I’d give it a go. Susan went out and took photos for me. Now how is that for service and love of her job.

Of course there is so much more to Beaufort and its charm is quite different to the affluent charm of Beaufort in South Carolina ( pronounced Beaufort as in Beautiful and don’t mix them up. The locals would get annoyed)

Restocked at the Piggly Wiggly and headed off down Alligator canal to a beautiful quiet anchorage. We coated ourselves in mossie spray and I have the fan and two mossie repellent burners that works.

Maybe a bear sighting ?

It’s all been gentle motoring up the ICW and a stunning 2nd anchorage. BUT Ran over a log on the way out and have bent out the hydrovane This is an expensive but not crucial fix!

Now resting and laundering in Coinjock. But whaddyaknow. On our way in it occurred to me that the bilge was very quiet. Yup. No manual or electric bilge. More to follow