Thanksgiving in Belhaven

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Hard to believe this time last year, we were in St. Augustine for Thanksgiving.

We left Elizabeth City bright and early at 0650 and cruised nine hours and forty-one minutes to Belhaven. We could not have had a more perfect day! Our days start with cussing about how cold it is while getting dressed. I check oil and fuel level then bring electronics (laptops, tablets and phones) and other items up to the fly bridge where I get everything set up -- navigation apps, propane heater, instruments, icemaker, etc. Sharon takes care of everything down below -- makes coffee, fills Yetis with water, drains water out of the cooler and stocks with beer for me (how cool is that!?!) and makes sure all the 'missile hazards' are secure. I'm sure there are 20 other things she does... Once we're underway, Sharon goes down below and makes breakfast. "Breakfast" depends on conditions. It could be just a breakfast bar or a bacon, egg, cheese, avocado sandwich and fruit salad.

0650 departure from Elizabeth City

This propane heater is worth it's weight in gold!

Lunch depends on the same (conditions). It could just be tuna packets "Fish in a bag" and crackers or a nice Dagwood sandwich. We also do some snacking and exercising underway. Since there isn't a whole lot to do, this has probably been the most I have been on Facebook in months and now I know why. 

We had a perfect weather window to cross the Albemarle Sound which can be brutal in winds over 15 knots. Our only bridge opening was the Alligator River Bridge which opens on request. The Alligator River and AP (Alligator/Pungo) Canal was like glass and we only encountered a few sailboats along the way. For the most part, it was just us on the water. This is a brutal time of year to be on the water because the sun is so low in the sky -- especially in the morning and afternoon. We love the sun for the heat but even the best polarized sunglasses don't help much.

Alligator River was like glass

We tied up at Belhaven Town Dock. We prefer free docks (who wouldn't?) or anchoring but at a $1/ft + $5 for electric, it was almost free. We wanted a down day to chill out for Thanksgiving. By 'chill out', meant troubleshooting another issue, finding a mailbox to mail birthday cards, take care of some maintenance items and, for Sharon, make an incredible Thanksgiving dinner! We had the dock all to ourselves. We always try and give back to the communities that offer free/cheap dockage but no bars/restaurants were open Wed or Thurs (totally understandable given the holiday).

We had two birthday cards to mail. The closest Post Office was about a 2 mile round trip walk. I asked an older gentleman if there was a mailbox around. He scratched his head and told us about a condominium complex that had an outgoing mailbox slot. He was awesome! Retired Navy. Told us some sea stories along with several other stories. We discovered last year that the people in North and South Carolina are about as nice as you can get.

For Thanksgiving dinner, Sharon went into full Sharon-mode! Homemade Ranch dressing, salad, mash potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, turkey breast, biscuits, gravy and pumpkin pie. All washed down with a nice red wine. The weather was perfect and in the 70s, although it rained in the morning which made it a nice day to sleep in.

We were able to have video calls with family and friends which really made the day!