We lurched into the morning on the bucking boat. After a little coffee, we called the Beaufort Yacht Basin right at 0800 – as directed – to confirm that we would be coming in that morning. Then we called BoatUS. To my surprise, Jay, the same guy from the previous night, answered the phone. After introducing myself, he chuckled, “are you the guys stuck out at Shackleford?” Um, yes 🙂 1

Within 20 minutes, we had fired up the boat and saw our escort coming through the bay. After a quick call to confirm the plan, we pulled anchor and slowly followed them out.

The path they took us on is NOT one that we would have tried on our own. According to the charts, we could have gotten off the boat and walked most of that path. According to reality, we never had less than eight feet of water at low tide.

After getting to the main channel, our escort said goodbye and throttled up to go help the next wayward boater. They were so helpful that we can’t say enough about it.

From there it was a short three mile cruise to the marina. We called ahead and David met us at the dock to help us in. There was a stiff north wind and it took a little doing to get into the slip. After a bit of adjusting, we were safe and sound for the day.

With almost the whole day left, we got a little rest and went to explore Beaufort. What a cool town with a rich history! We walked around, had a nice dinner, and then strolled through the Old Burial Ground. Nothing tells the history of a place like a burial ground that spans centuries.

The next day we were very fortunate to be able to find a diver who could come out that afternoon. He did a hull inspection and we checked out good. We did have some knicks on the props, so he put our spares on (thank goodness for the previous owner who kept spares!) and sent in the old props to be reconditioned. Our Dash has some fresh wheels and is ready to finish the loop!