Belhaven to Beaufort, #25-44
- sondrawinter
- Nov 2
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
We continued down the ICW in North Carolina starting out in Belhaven, stopping in Oriental a couple of nights before waiting out weather in Beaufort.
Belhaven, NC to Beaufort, NC
Friday, October 24 – Thursday, October 30
60 NM | 69 Miles
Motoring Down the ICW
Friday, October 24
Belhaven, NC to Oriental, NC
40 NM
Day five of our five-day push from Norfolk to Oriental started at sunrise as we raised anchor behind the seawall on Pungo Creek outside Belhaven. This trip was uneventful as we listened to chatter on the VHF along a variety of rivers and cuts.
Our goal was to try to grab a spot on one of the free town docks in Oriental. When we first stuck our nose into Oriental Harbor down Racoon Creek, we saw that both of the free docks were full. After doing a few circles and holding in place debating whether or not to go find a place to anchor, a fishing console vacated a spot. Taking our time, we edged in between the dock and a large fishing vessel.
Oriental, Sailing Capital of North Carolina
Friday Afternoon, October 24 – Sunday Morning, October 27
Back in 2020 Jimmy and I drove through Oriental, North Carolina when we first started shopping for a cruising boat. It was fun to return on our cruising boat this time.
The free docks, along with the adjacent marina, restaurant and bar served as a little cruising hub. Jimmy, Cam, Denise, and I enjoyed talking to cruisers from all over the place. Saturday morning Jimmy and I helped the owner of an O’Day sailboat move his boat out from the slot in front of us. This required walking his boat between the gap between Utopia and a very large fishing vessel, reminding us that there is a reason why these became the free docks, but adding to the fun of our visit.
As for nearby amenities, Oriental offers a few provisioning options, several lots of marine services and a couple of chandleries. Right around the corner from Oriental Harbor there’s a nice provisioning store that sells hardware and marine goods, along with some groceries. There is a Piggly Wiggly grocery store about a 1-mile out of town. A bonus is that the store offers shuttles back-and-forth to the marinas if you don’t want to walk along the highway, which does not have a sidewalk, but is not too bad of a walk.
Every Saturday there is a farmers’ market. However, there were only four vendors and only assemblance of a fruit or vegetable came in a can. Dave, a carpenter with a stall there told us that usually there are a lot more vendors but was not sure why nobody showed up this weekend.
Highlight of our visit just might be Rick‘s NC BBQ. It is a 10-minute walk away from Oriental Harbor, but the food and service as well worth the walk. We were greeted and served by Rick. All the staff that work for him were incredibly cordial and helpful. During our meal, each person that worked there stopped by our table to check in on us. Cam, who grew up in North Carolina, fully agreed that pulled pork was incredible.
More ICW Motoring & More Breezy Docking
Sunday, October 26
Oriental, NC to Beaufort, NC
20 NM
Sunday morning, we motored across Neuse River, then along more rivers and cuts working our way along the ICW and Gallants Channel to reach the back side of Beaufort. Both Utopia and Quest II had reservations to wait out some incoming bad weather. Alboe had suggested this marina, and they were spot on. The dockmaster, Dan, is proud of this marina and it shows.
The dockmaster was also very calm and helpful as we approached the slip in breezy conditions. Our docking required three attempts, but no damage was done.
I need to remember that
more wind = more throttle.
Waiting out Weather in Beaufort
Sunday, October 26 – Thursday, October 30
Before the worst of the incoming inclement weather, the winds have been a steady 15 to 20 knots with mostly cloudy to cloudy skies and high temperatures in the 60’s. The rain began Monday afternoon as the wind forces increased to a steady rate of 20-25 knots and gusts up to 42 knots on Tuesday morning. These conditions had us hanging out at the marina taking care of little projects, mostly within the cabin making this visit to Beaufort to feel very different from our visit this summer (click link to see Jimmy at the Beaufort sign wearing summer gear).
While “stranded” at this marina we have met several other cruisers heading south. Nearly everyone is heading either to Florida or the Bahamas. One couple met each other as FSU college students in Tallahassee approximately 40 years ago; they are heading to Marathon then on to the Bahamas.
During breaks in the rain, we would walk the couple of blocks into town to once again enjoy the area. One morning, the four of us took the marina’s loaner car to a grocery store and chandlery where we bought a new block for our preventor line system. This block will attach to our rail using Dyneema instead of screws set in a plastic case.
Route Planning
Now that November is approaching, we are seriously looking at weather patterns and windows to develop a plan for our route to Daytona Beach by mid-November. At the moment, we plan to take the ICW down to Wrightsville Beach then head outside of the inlet there for a single or double night offshore passage south. If we have good enough conditions, Cumberland Island will be the goal. Otherwise, we may need to duck in at Charleston and head south on the ICW until the next inlet and weather window line up. Check out the Links page of our website for a link to our Garmin Tracker. Eventually we will reach St. Augustine where afterwards we will need to stay in the ICW to reach our marina in Daytona Beach.
Stay tuned as Jimmy will share the next leg of our return to Florida.
Post 25-44
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