Eastham Creek, Campbell Creek, Taylor Creek

         We spent two nights in Eastham Creek and three in Campbell Creek, moving from one to the other when we needed different protection.  Tropical Storm Nicole was influencing strong winds long before she upgraded to a hurricane and made landfall.  Unlike our previous layover this fall, we had very little rain and sometimes it was sunny.  On the first day Dan decided to take the dinghy four miles over to RE Mayo, a small local seafood buyer & distributer that sports a big sign welcoming recreational boaters.  He bought a couple pounds of shrimp and some frozen mahi mahi and there’s a story here, but I’ll let him tell it.  

Shrimp in garlic sauce

On the second day Dan decided to hook up the remaining three solar panels we have mounted over the back boat deck.  He also adjusted the anchor chain wash down hose, reprogrammed some of the electrical panels, and worked on a few other odd jobs around the boat.  I decided to just hang out and read - pretty much what I’d done the day before, too.

Eastham Creek Sunset

        On the third day, in anticipation of the windshift, and to generate some hot water, we moved out Eastham Creek, across Goose Creek, and into Campbell Creek.  The scenery varied only in that there were more houses and docks here.  We took a dinghy ride farther up the creek just to explore a little, and to look for the resident alligator named Charlie.  We saw a few ducks, lots of fish jumping, and a woman standing on her porch, but no Charlie.  

Campbell Creek Sunrise

Nicole made landfall and tossed handfuls of rain at us on Friday, our fourth lay day. Since she decided to take the inland route instead of the coastal route, we were not the recipient of heavy rains and thunderstorms, and since we were on the ICW and not on the coast, we also didn’t experience the storm surges and rip currents that ravaged a lot of the East coast, especially in Florida.  Saturday morning it dawned sunny and still and we were more than ready to pick up anchor and move on.  

We joined a steady parade of southbound boats who came out of their anchorages and marinas, stopping again at RE Mayo for more shrimp and this time, some red snapper, as well as to top off our fuel tanks.  The skies clouded over and the wind picked up - it was much windier than we’d expected - but no one in the parade was going to stop, and we all resolutely continued on until we reached Beaufort (pronounced Bow-fort, as opposed to Bew-ferd, which is Beaufort SC) or the adjoining Morehead City.  We are anchored here in Taylor Creek with about thirty other vessels, and we can hear the surf crash just a mile or so away.  

Shrimp boats at the RE Mayo dock.