[Rhodes22-list] Oriental - Beaufort trip

[Joe Babb]

Hi Gang,
Just got back from our cruising trip on the NC coast.  We put in at 
Smith Creek Wildlife Ramp in Oriental.  We sailed in the Sound for a 
couple of days and then decided to take Adams Creek Canal to Beaufort.  
Back Creek on Adams Creek is a great place to anchor overnight if you 
are looking for quiet and privacy.  Stayed at Beafort Docks in Beaufort 
for 3 days mostly because of the outboard.
I read somewhere that cruising is defined as repairing your boat in 
exotic locations.  Not sure Beaufort qualifies as exotic, but we had to 
get the Yamaha 9.9 engine worked on while there.  It barely chugged us 
into our slip with some help from the sails.  Ever try to get an 
outboard serviced the week prior to July 4?  It ain't easy.
Anyhow, we got the thing serviced and it acted like it was running 
great. The next day it wasn't so great so we decided to head back for 
Oriental.  We managed to make it back to Back Creek and anchored for the 
evening thunderstorm.  Wow, glad we were anchored in a protected place.  
Next morning I tried working on the engine again and discovered that it 
had blown a gasket or cracked its head because the oil was full of 
water.  We owe Peter a great big thank you for encouraging us to join 
Boat US and get unlimited towing, and I'm really glad we've got that 
mast head VHF antenna because TowboatUS in Oriental just did come in 
loud enough for us to explain where we were.  Got towed back to Oriental 
to the Smith Creek Ramp. 
We're gonna try again next year to make it to Lookout Bight.  We've got 
a new Yamaha 9.9 engine and I think we'll use the Taylor Creek Wildlife 
Ramp in Beaufort and we'll be towing a small hard dingy so we can anchor 
in Taylor Creek and row in rather than stay at Beaufort Docks.  They 
charge $2.25 per foot which is the highest we've ever paid.  Oriental 
Marina in Oriental only charged $1.75 per foot and provided towels for 
the shower and pool.  BTW, M&M's Cafe in Oriental is a great place to 
eat.  Everybody in Oriental was super friendly.  One fellow who was 
fishing on Smith Creek gave us a really nice Red Drum which we grilled 
the next evening.  Yum.
One thing we found in traveling through Beaufort Inlet was that the 
large pleasure boats were more dangerous than the 3 to 5 foot ocean 
swells.  The wake those things throw up is awesome and they don't always 
pay attention to where they are going.  Probably on auto pilot.  The tow 
boats and barges on Adams Creek were tame by comparison.
Everywhere we went our Rhodes got a lot of attention.  We got many, many 
"beautiful boat" comments.  This ranged all the way from older guys who 
owned or had owned larger boats to younger people day dreaming of owning 
a boat someday.
Seven days of cruising on a Rhodes 22 and Sharon and I could have spent 
a few more if not for the outboard crapping out.  Guess we must like 
each other pretty well. *grin*
Joe
"Harmony" 2000 recycled 2008