A short leg to Beaufort, and a rainbow to cheer us
We'd been here back in November 2013 and knew we liked the place. Beaufort is nice, with a small-town vibe. It sits at the end of a peninsula, so most of their traffic arrives by road from inland, but they do a pretty good job of being accommodating to those of us going through in boats. The laundromat is inexpensive and just a short walk from the dinghy dock, there is a decent store not too far away and they have the usual selection of waterside holiday diversions, like ice cream parlors and seafood restaurants. I was particularly pleased that their "old" Mexican restaurant has been replaced with a much better one. Maryanne let me eat there twice. We were then able to walk off our meals with long, waterfront strolls.
A pleasant small town for our last anchorage in the USA for a while
Most of the vessels passing through Beaufort are continuing along the ICW on their way to Florida. Beaufort is still a popular spot for them because it is probably the best place to pull in for a couple of days going either direction. For us and the other boats jumping offshore, Beaufort is a good departure point because it is almost as far east as Cape Hatteras, but allows for a much less dangerous crossing of the Gulf Stream at a narrow spot relatively near the coast.
Across Taylor Creek, on the opposite side of the anchorage from Beaufort, is the Rachel Carson Reserve, an estuarine sanctuary. Maryanne and I took the dinghy there and spent quite a bit of time walking the trails and the long, sandy beach (and through boggy marshes, especially at higher tides). They also have a population of wild horses, which were always fun to spot. Regulations require visitors to keep a 50' distance from the horses at all times, but at one point we turned a corner in a woodland part of the trail and they were RIGHT THERE... Err.. What now?, we just tip-toed quietly past them. We realized they were quite used to humans and didn't seem bothered by us at all. As long as we didn't try to do something daft like try to pet them or walk behind within bucking range, they seemed happy to tolerate our species as they grazed the trails for us.
We visited the Rachel Carson Reserve a couple of times, loved the long walks on nearly deserted beaches, and, of course, the wild horses
Anchorage location >> On google maps
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