We spent three nights (Tuesday 8/6-Thursday 8/8) on the hook in the cove at the Island of Ocracoke, NC. The first night was delightful. So calm, quiet and beautiful. The second was a different story altogether. Out of the blue a mighty storm came billowing in around midnight. It started pouring rain with lots of lightning, thunder booms and big wind gusts, some maybe as much as 35 knots. It certainly got our attention. At one point, Michael started the engine in case we had to “do something”. The anchor held fine, but we were whipped around like we were on a bucking bronco. It lasted about four hours then settled down and all was fine. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep. I read somewhere that being at anchor is much like having a baby on board, and we believe that’s true. We were constantly up checking lines, making sure we weren’t dragging, checking every unusual noise, checking on our baby. The third night was calm, quiet and beautiful again.

The island of Ocracoke is interesting. We enjoyed being at anchor and watching paddleboarders, kayakers, fishing boats coming and going, parasailers, and jet ski boats being led like lemmings past the ferries to open water – lots of activity.  Since there is no bridge accessibility is only by boat or aircraft. About a half dozen ferries run from 5:00 am to midnight. We see everything, a whole lot of people, cars, trucks, etc., coming and going from our vantage point. It was fairly crowded during the week so we decided not to spend the weekend for fear it would be way too busy for us.

We weighed anchor at about 08:00 Friday (8/9) and after filling up with water at the Parks Service dock we headed up the Campbell River to an anchorage on Campbell Creek with hopes of seeing Harbor Hosts, Beth and Rip (Lab Partners). They had contacted us when we were in New Bern and invited us to come see their little slice of paradise.

Arriving around 2:30, we dropped anchor in a beautiful little cove just before reaching their home. The scenery was gorgeous – lots of big trees, marsh land with a sprinkling of homes on the shoreline. We contacted Beth and Rip and told them we’d come over by dinghy once we got settled. I went down to take a shower before going for a visit and we had no water!!!! Yikes, the water pump died. Beth and Rip said, pull up anchor and bring the “mother ship” to our dock and we’ll help you. Michael and Rip spent the rest of the afternoon working on the water pump to no avail. It was determined that the pressure regulator was bad. No water today.

Saturday morning Rip took us to town (about eight miles) to Ace Hardware where Michael got a well pump pressure regulator and parts needed to install. We had water that afternoon, YEA! Late afternoon brought another thunderstorm. The skies became really dark and it started pouring rain with severe lightning and thunder and strong winds. Then it started hailing – really hard! I included a video – my first and it’s a little rough, but you might get the idea. Whoa, Mother Nature really put on a show for us today. The power went out at Beth and Rip’s for few hours, so we baked  potatoes for dinner (we have a generator), made caprese with our boat grown basil, and headed up to their house where Rip cooked our steaks and asparagus on their grill. We had a nice meal, a little wine, a beautiful sunset and wonderful conversation. What delightful, helpful hosts. They have taken us in and treated us like family (the good side of the family). We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our home at their dock. When we go to bed it’s pitch-black so you can see thousands of stars and when we wake up there is a big orange ball sunrise. It’s so peaceful and serene and we will hate to leave. We will really miss this slice of paradise along with the kindness and generosity of Beth and Rip, but we have to head toward New Bern, NC again. Michael needs to fly back to the West Coast this week, so we’ll take off tomorrow morning. Will keep you posted…..

Thank you Beth, Rip and Cally….