We departed Oriental at about 0840 for a short cruise to Beaufort – it’s pronounced “Bo-furt” as locals will tell you. There is another town by the same name in South Carolina that’s pronounced “Byew-furt”. The run was about 20 nm, so it was an easy cruise day. We passed some special-ops boats probably from Paris Island, interesting to see them approaching in formation. Very cool looking boats, about 30-40 ft. dark, and very sleek, exhaust slides out under the transom which is sloped aft and has water running down across the surface (to reduce the heat signature?)We also had some porpoises playing in our bow wave for a mile or two. We never tire of seeing them under the bow. The photo doesn’t convey it, but it’s the best we have!
The approach to Beaufort is a bit tricky, there are channels marked on the charts that are no longer viable, plus we were at low tide, but slow and easy progress got us in. The anchorage at Beaufort is crowded, and tides run fairly swift, so we opted to stay at Town Docks Marina. Very nice., right on the waterfront by the town, lots of old homes, interesting old architecture, and lots of interesting shops.
We backed into our slip next to a sailboat named “Kairos”. Our friends, neighbors, and current mail service, Todd & Belinda Jackson, cruised aboard “Kairos” for 3 years, and were motivators for us to get cruising before
