Where Foxy Flamingo Got Her Name

Yesterday we went to Nag's Head and the Foxy Flamingo Boutique.  The owner Betsy gave us permission to use her logo about four years ago.  We wanted to thank her so we brought her a couple of gifts.  

This is the owner Betsy

   

  

We had two of these eggs made.  One for us and one for the Foxy Flamingo Boutique.  

This is a goose egg made by Cynthia Davis in Cape Breton, NS.

This was a gift we had made as a thank you for allowing us to use the logo.  The picture Betsy is holding is a picture of our boat showing the logos on our boat and the words "Thank You" on the top of the frame in scrabble tiles.

It was great seeing Betsy and her staff again and her wonderful boutique.  She has expanded over the years.  We will try to get there in the spring to bring her and her staff for a cruise.

Santa is in North Carolina

Santa was here to help us dock in New Bern.  He asked us to keep it quite.  He did allow me to take his picture in his work clothes and in his Sunday clothes.

What do you think Nate?

 Santa in his Sunday best   

 

Santa in his everyday work clothes

 

Our Journey as Seen on Nebo

This is the information from our journey from start to finish.  We didn't realize we had travelled 1400 nautical miles.  

It was quite a journey.

New Bern

So glad to be here.  We have been walking around town and doing laundry today.  Oh joy.

This is us in the Marina

This is the short walk to get off of the dock

A view coming in to New Bern

Looking out at the water

Looking out at the water

There is a beautiful, very large, Christmas tree when we look out of our Port windows.  I'll get a picture tonight.  There are carriage rides around the downtown area from now until Christmas.  We will take a carriage ride some evening.  Everything is very handy and the people are very friendly.  There are a ton of restaurants with any kind of food you can imagine.  Last night we found out what "hush puppies" were.  It's like a corn bread with a bit of sweetness in the coating.  There are about the size of a an unshelled peanut.  Very good....yum.

Day Sixty One

Just a short post tonight.  We made it to New Bern.  We are docked, hooked up to power and very conveniently located.  We took a short walk around town and were greeted by everyone we met.  People are certainly friendly here.

I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Happy to be here.

Day Fifty Eight, Fifty Nine and Sixty

We are almost at our destination.  Monday night we anchored in Deep Creek.  The Creek was NOT deep.  We went into Lamb's Marina for the night.  We thought we would check it out and maybe spend the winter there.  It was quite run down and didn't offer pump out.  We decided to move on and go with our original plan.

We are finding out that the water on the ICW is not very deep.  The average would likely be around 12 feet. The anchorages are never quite what they seem and the reviews are usually years old.

Tuesday we headed towards Belhaven, NC.  We knew we would not make it in one day but wanted to be closer.  The town has free docks there.  No power and you can't use your generator but since it was suppose to be quite windy we thought it would be saver.  We ended us anchoring in Babbitt Bay.  The temperature dropped at night and it was a bit chilly.

After leaving the Belhaven area we headed to Oriental, NC where there is a free dock as well.  Before we arrived in Oriental, NC we went through another Canal.  Again, very narrow, and not very deep.  What was interesting is the the Coast Guard had a station on the Canal.

Coast Guard Station

Coast Guard Station

Some houses along the way

Looked interesting

A very old Marina with lots of fishing boats

Anyone can dock here

Not sure I would want to go to the Sea Food Restaurant

We are anchored out just around Oriental, NC.  Tomorrow will be a short day with only a three hour cruise.  (Oh that sounds like Gilligan's Island)  We should be in New Bern by lunch time.  I am really looking forward to staying put.

Day Fifty Seven

We arrived at Lamb's Marina around 2:00 pm.  It has all of the services with the exception of pump-out.  We'll see before we decide on whether or not to stay here.

Travelling the Dismal Swamp Canal was very different.  It is narrow, and definitely a swamp.  But it was good sailing.

Our boat and Dave & Holly's boat

That is a very tall mast on the catamaran behind us.  Dave climbed to the top on Saturday and Sunday.  I watched for a little bit on Saturday but I couldn't watch on Sunday.  To scary for me.  Holly was such a help...I don't know how she did it. 

Dave up at the top of the mast

Brian was very grateful that he didn't have to climb that high.  I can't blame him.  I would never be able to watch him.

Dismal Swamp

Dismal Swamp

Visitors Center

We went through a lock today.  The Lock Masters are so friendly and helpful.  Our fellow boaters went through ahead of us today and told Don to expect us.  

More pictures tomorrow.

 

Day Fifty Five and Fifty Six

We stopped at the free dock at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center.  We stayed for two nights.  The weather was nice for the two days with temperatures around 18 Celcius.  We enjoyed the nice weather and company of our fellow boaters.

I have some pictures I want to post of the Dismal Swamp but my camera quit working.  Fortunately Brian took some pictures with the GoPro.  He will download those tonight and I'll post them on my next post.

We will only be going as far as Camden. NC and spending the night at Lamb's Marina.  If the Marina is as nice and convenient as it seems we may stay here instead of going to New Bern.  The weather is abount the same as New Bern.  They do get snow but only about 6 inches for the whole winter.  I think I can live with that.

I will blog tonight with some pictures.

Day Fifty Four

We left Back River around 9:00 am heading for Norfolk, VA.  I feel we have been very fortunate the last few days because our weather and the water has been great.  We made it to the Naval Base just before lunch.  What an amazing site to see.  

This is Fort Munroe National Monument

Had to see the monument but it is there

Just before getting into Norfolk we saw the air craft carriers.  It is breath taking when you see how large they really are.

All through the city of Norfolk is lined with ship building and repairs.  If you had a crane business here you would make a fortune.  We saw at least 30-40 cranes working on boats.  

This is the Gary Chouest Tug/Supply Vessel

It was very large

I did take a few pictures of the city of Norfolk.  It seems like quite a large city.

Very clean looking city

This is a sample of what you see as you are going through the city.  

We had to wait for Train Bridge # 7 to open as we were leaving the city.  Once across we entered the waterway into the Dismal Swamp.  The Dismal Swamp is best known for its "No See-ums".  Lucky for us at this time of year there weren't any.  

Entrance to the Dismal Swamp

Cora was all excited because she could see land.  She is really good on the boat but she sure wants to get on dry land and run.

I wonder what she is thinking

We did our first lock today.  It was pretty simple.  There was only one other boat in the lock.  A couple from Rhode Island.  We docked on the free dock just past the lock and they rafted up beside us.  

I may add some more pictures tomorrow because Brian took some great pictures as well.