Looks can deceive

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Oh it looks peaceful enough. We’d just returned from our shopping with panniers stuffed to over flowing and as we wended our way towards our neighbor’s dock, which they’d graciously invited us to use, we saw Escape Velocity in this idyllic setting.

Soon after this shot was taken I noticed dark low clouds scudding along just over the tree tops. We were surrounded by trees so we knew we’d have some protection from the worst of it. Poor holding in soft mud, very shoal water and limited maneuvering room, made me second guess the decision. Out on Bogue Sound, which you can just see to the left of EV, they were getting hammered. Sea Tow brought in four boats tied to their side, but the scariest tow was the ghost boat which had been anchored fifty yards from us next to a reed bank. During the worst of the storm it broke free of its restraints and sloshed back and forth with the crazy wind. At one point it beached itself but refused to stay put. I’d had enough.

I called SeaTow. Let’s see…they’re very busy, it’s dark, we’re in the middle if a storm and there’s no one to pick up the tab. An hour later we could see the flashing yellow and red lights coming through the passage into Peletier Creek.

With gusts at 40+ and lightning dancing all around, we continued to do the dance. By midnight It was all over.

We left Peletier Creek at high tide, 7:30 am through a passage so shallow and narrow that I still can’t believe we did it. Unforgettable, another Marce find.

We steamed up the ICW to Morehead City Yacht Basin to have our broken stuff looked at. No joy, but we learned a couple of things. Like looking for our emergency wheel autopilot’s brain for hours only to realize it doesn’t have one. I guess I could have figured that out a little quicker.

We’re in Oriental N. Carolina for a few days, at a nice Marina just off the Neuse River. A well recommended electronics guy works nearby.

The view from the back porch.

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3 Comments

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3 Responses to Looks can deceive

  1. Anita

    Oriental is a quaint little town we visited on a trip to New Bern years ago. Hope that all your troubles get fixed and that you can enjoy a little rest and relaxation. Are you still cooking beans on Mondays, Marce?

  2. Renie

    Apropos of nothing particularly important, but thank you for teaching me the word “panniers,” which I’d never known before! (p.s. I wish I could bop over to Oriental to say hi, if it weren’t as far from Winston-Salem as it is.)

    • We wish you could too! And we’re glad you’ve learned the word panniers because you’ll need to know that when you do that great bike vacation to the French countryside.

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