The beginning of our time in North Carolina has certainly been memorable. From exploring small towns to navigating rough waters, we won’t forget these days any time soon.

After leaving Southport, North Carolina, we made a quick stop in Wrightsville Beach, where we anchored for one night. We only had enough time to walk a few blocks of shops and grab an afternoon pick-me-up coffee at Drift. Earlier in the day, we cruised through the Cape Fear River, which brought on bigger waves that sloshed us around just a bit, so we were ready to call it an early night. The next morning, we’d be up before sunrise to cruise roughly 50 miles to Swansboro, North Carolina. 

Unfortunately, we did not explore any of Swansboro, but we did anchor near an island where Ripley could run around in the sand and get some swimming in. It was another one-nighter before we were up and moving yet again to Beaufort, North Carolina. The wind was supposed to pick up mid-week, so we hunkered down in a marina along with some other Looping boats. During this waiting period, we made the most of our time in Beaufort. Aside from general errands like restocking Ripley’s food supply and getting a refill on prescriptions (thank you, marina courtesy car!), we also visited:

• Fishtowne Brew House — Evan tried a flight!
• Mezcalito — delicious tacos and margaritas
• Dock House Restaurant — the marina we stayed at gave us free beer tokens and we loved the buffalo shrimp
• Backstreet Pub — this was a recommendation from a local who said it’s an old-time mariner bar
• Beaufort Creamery — is any small town stop complete without an ice cream run?

From Beaufort, things got dicey. What we thought was a simple cruise up to Oriental turned into a bumpy ride in the Neuse River. We hadn’t heard anyone give a heads up on this portion of the Loop, so we didn’t think anything of it when it was time to move to the next stop. We anchored for one night in Oriental before we had to go back into the Neuse River to make it up to Belhaven. This is where I started to question all the forecasts we had read the previous night.

Growing up on the Mississippi River, when I hear the word river, I don’t think of rough seas. The Neuse River, however, has miles of fetch coming from the northeast, making any winds coming out of the north to cause large waves with short interval periods. The first two hours of our cruise were absolutely beautiful. The water was still and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Out of nowhere, though, the wind picked up, and it wasn’t what the forecast had told us. Luckily (or unluckily for them), we weren’t the only ones who had decided to leave Oriental, and we were getting beat up with five other boats out there. By the time we reached the Pamlico River, I was beyond grateful to have trees within 200 feet on each side of us. 

Our experience on the Neuse reminded us to check multiple wind forecast models and have strict boundaries on when we should go or stay. It also reminded us to have the proper safety precautions in place, like life vests and a ready-to-go throwable, along with the importance of staying calm in high-stress situations. 

Once we made it to Belhaven, we enjoyed the free town dock for a few nights to get our feet back under us (literally). We would need to keep a close eye on the forecasts as our next cruise would require us to go up the Alligator River, which again, could be rough depending on the direction and speed of the wind. The adventure never stops, but we’re excited to continue despite the tough days.