FLUKE on the Neuse

May 13 – 17, 2011

A bear with good advice

When we last left you we were headed to the South River anchorage off the Neuse River in North Carolina. After getting the anchor down securely and getting buzzed by a couple of curious hummingbirds, we spent 3 nights there, just trying to catch up on some much-needed rest and getting FLUKE back in order. The weather forecast remained very windy with a constant threat of thunderstorms. It was clear that if we hadn't made it in to Beaufort when we did, we wouldn't have made it to North Carolina for several more days; the fleet would have had to go into another inlet to the south.

The days went by with the wind howling outside and dark skies looming overhead, but we were so busy it was never boring and time passed quickly. Wayne caught up on some baking: English muffins, hot dog and hamburger buns. FLUKE smelled great!

We were anchored across from an old cemetery that used to belong to the long ago abandoned community of Lukens. On Saturday morning I heard a motor sound and I looked out the window to see a small, home-made, barge-like vessel being pushed by a fishing boat. There were a dozen people on the barge with lawn mowers, coolers, and tools. They all headed over to the cemetery. I could look through the binoculars and see them working among the scattered headstones, cleaning up the grounds.

The Neuse River is one of the widest (6 miles) rivers in the U.S. and it is 34 miles long. We decided to cruise all the way up to New Bern, about 25 miles. New Bern was founded by a group of German and Swiss colonists in the 1700's, thus the European name. The city prospered as a riverfront community and was both the colonial and state capital for a period of time. Today, there still remain many fine homes and buildings from the 17 and 1800's with a revitalized, charming downtown business district within easy walking distance from the waterfront.

Going under and through New Bern bridges

Coming up the river and seeing the expansive bridges is quite an impressive site when you are expecting to see an historic waterfront community. We had decided to anchor a couple of miles up the Trent River which intersects the Neuse River right at New Bern's waterfront hub. That meant we had to go under the big spanning bridges, through a low, bascule bridge which opened on demand for us at the time of day we were passing through, and then we had to go through a swing railroad bridge with 32' of opening width on each side which looks pretty narrow when you are at the helm of a fat 18' wide girl like FLUKE. Then under another set of 3 bridges and into a more quiet section of the Trent River.

Bridge bird

Most of the channel markers and pilings were occupied by nesting ospreys, and some of them were at our eye level. I wonder why this osprey chose to live right under a noisy, busy bridge when the wilds are in sight a short distance away. You can see the variety of nesting materials in this photo.

Lots of trimming to do

The scenery changed from business to residential in a hurry. In less than 2 miles, we were in a section of diverse types of private homes and vacant marsh.

Our anchorage view

We found a secure, roomy place to drop the anchor and spent the rest of the afternoon planning for the next day's activities, doing boat chores, and food preparation. I watched a pair of Canada geese swim slowly by with a flock of newly borne chicks trailing closely behind. They were still so tiny and very yellow; I think it was the first time they had crossed the river. Cows were mooing through the trees nearby. A bald eagle flew low overhead, making the geese honk madly and several ospreys screeched and flew after it, pecking at its tail. As night settled in, the water looked like black glass with a big moon reflecting off its surface and a pleasant cool, quiet settled over the marsh. Perfect conditions for a good night's sleep!

We wanted to get to the town dock early before the wind had a chance to kick up and make it more difficult to get to the dock. When we had gone through the bascule bridge the day before we noticed a sign that said the bridge was closed for recreational boat traffic from 6:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m., but had an opening at 7:30 a.m., so that's what we decided to go for.

We noticed that the docks were shorter (only 40') than FLUKE, so that presented a challenge to be able to adequately tie her up. Wayne pulled up perpendicular to the end of the dock to let me jump off the boat and start grabbing lines while he slowly eased FLUKE in. I would secure the line to the dock and Eddie would tie it off to the boat and try to pull the boat in.

FLUKE at the New Bern town dock

In addition to being too short for us, the docks are really exposed to the wind and open water conditions. We were tentative about how much FLUKE would shift with changing weather conditions, but decided to go for a walk in the downtown area which was close by anyway. It had been a full week now since we had been off FLUKE, so it felt good to be back on terra firma for some walking exercise. It is funny, though, how we still felt we were “on the boat” as we walked around with a bit of a rubbery leg feel.

The New Bern community had a display of theme-decorated bears placed throughout the downtown area; the opening photo was one that was in front of a liquor store. Here are a couple more of my favorites.

Activities bear

Confederate soldier bear

New Bern is a pleasant town to walk around. The tree-lined streets have interesting shops of all sorts housed in architecturally fascinating buildings from a bygone era. Several of the shops had water bowls for dogs. A dog-friendly town is our kind of town!

New Bern street scene

We found a corner drugstore next to this historical information sign. Since we all drink Diet Pepsi we were interested in seeing what was inside. There were all kinds of Pepsi memorabilia and an old-fashioned soda fountain. One of the tee shirts for sale said “Friends don't let friends drink Coke”.

Our favorite soft drink

The best commercial visit was to Mitchell's Hardware store. The placard in the doorstep read 1911. The store was packed with all kinds of merchandise like you would find at a country general store. Locally grown bedding flowers and vegetables lined the sidewalk outside the store. Employees were cheerful and attentive to the many customers who were browsing. Ursa was a huge hit with the staff and other customers when one of the employees asked if she could give Ursa a treat. We told her that she could, but only if she made Ursa do tricks. Ursa works for anyone with food, so we just told her to think of things to tell Ursa to do and Ursa did a half dozen tricks for her. I finally managed to find a heat diffuser for our gas burners; I hadn't been able to find one at any of the big box stores before we left the home port.

Feeding America one seed at a time

The residential neighborhood is adjacent to the business district and the tree-lined streets are filled with a variety of period homes, many in beautifully restored condition. Modern updates have not been ignored for our canine friends either, as evidenced by this corner yard monument we passed. Ursa made a good connection and picked up, and left, appropriate communications.

Hook-up site

One of the biggest tour highlights for the town is Tryon Palace Historic Site & Gardens. The palace was built by Governor Tryon in the 1700s and was damaged by fire, but has been restored to the original specifications. Several outlying buildings of historical significance are on streets adjacent to the palace grounds. Most all the buildings have gardens of varying sorts and sizes. We didn't have time to tour anything inside, but it was interesting walking around the outside, seeing the buildings and their grounds.

Tryon Palace

At the beginning of this post I told you that we had to go through a railroad bridge. Well, we saw where the tracks left the waterfront area and were so surprised to see that they go right through the town. The cross streets don't have any crossing gates, and you can see in this photo that cars just drive right down the middle of the tracks when there isn't a train there. We found it amazing to find that the New Bern residents actually assume personal responsibility for dealing with the train passing through their town and having sense enough to know to stay off the tracks without having a government agency tell them how to do it.

Living on the tracks

As midday was approaching and the weather was deteriorating with the winds picking up and the skies darkening, we decided we had better head back to FLUKE. We walked back via the Riverwalk which runs right along the waterfront. This is a modern, walk area that connects the convention center, hotels, and marinas. It has been landscaped with native vegetation and has lots of information signs about coastal fauna and flora. This mallard mother brought her babies in close to teach them how to receive subsidies from an early age. She lost interest when she realized that we didn't work for the government!

Mallard family

When we got back to the town dock, we had an unpleasant surprise. With the wind blowing hard in, FLUKE had stretched her lines enough such that the bow was scraping the dock. Now we have a smudged “nose” that will need a paint make-over. At least the fiberglass was not chipped.

It wasn't going to be an easy task to get safely off the dock. At least we were the only boat there, so we didn't have to worry about hitting another boat. We had a crew meeting to figure out how to release the lines, power the boat up enough to get away from the dock, and to get Eddie back aboard since he was going to be on the dock releasing the lines. In the meantime, it started to rain. So, we scrambled, yelled, and powered up FLUKE.

Unfortunately since I was occupied with line handling I couldn't get a picture of Eddie clinging to the upper deck railing and trying to get a toe hold on the rubrail while we were pulling away from the dock and he was jumping off the dock. He'll be 70 in December, but he can still climb like a monkey!

Our adventure on the Neuse River ends at Clubfoot Creek. No, I didn't name it that because Eddie left a toe behind in New Bern when we left the dock. I've told you before, the origin of some of these names is only a part of local folklore that would take a lot to try to uncover. This isolated, tree-lined creek provided us a safe haven for the night with the predicted wind direction. For some reason, it took us two tries to get the anchor to set. Clubfoot Creek is not too far from the Cherry Point military base, so we were treated to several flyovers from a variety of military aircraft: jets, helicopters, and transport planes.

We awoke the following morning to glassy waters and a big alligator cruising along the shoreline. Any wildlife siting is a good start to my day.

Stay tuned for our next new adventure: north to Albemarle Sound and west to the Perquimans River.