Beaufort NC USA (Part 2)

Friday 8 November was a day of maintenance work.  I started by wiring the new NMEA 2000 cabling and connections into the hot-potch of NMEA 0183, NMEA 2000, SeaTalk 1 and SeaTalk NG cabling that connects our various instruments of multiple generations, in the process finding yet another loose connection on the wind instrument’s wiring.  The end result:  the loss of another foot or so of old wiring and, more importantly, instruments that ‘speak’ to each other better, so that we no longer have displays (eg distance to waypoint) that flash on and off.  For the longer term, we now also have a set-up that is increasingly future proof.  Most of our instruments are well and truly obsolete so, as and when they fail (and many of them are 20 years old so they’re doing well), their replacements will work on the NMEA 2000 instrument protocol, or Raymarine’s variation thereof, as opposed to any of the other older protocols we currently have whizzing information around between instrument heads.  The work I did today means that it will be a lot easier to ‘plug and play’ with any replacement instruments.

Taking my electrician’s hat off I put on my mechanic’s headgear and carried out a check on the generator oil level and adjusted the tell-tale flow from its cooling water system.  Whilst I was in the machinery space, we decided to do a double check that all is well with the new dive tank compressor, since the last time we operated it the generator decided to stop producing AC power.  Happily, all was well this time though – the new capacitor seems to be doing the trick for now.  And, wearing my plumber’s hat, I also took the opportunity to pour several litres of vinegar into the aft heads pipework as part of our routine preventative maintenance against their scaling up.  Meanwhile, Nicky continued work on updating the inventory and stowage plan in between handing me tools and generally acting as the electrician’s/mechanic’s/plumber’s gopher.  After a busy day of jobs, we spent the evening slobbed in front of the computer enjoying a film.

We’d worked hard on the Friday to free up the next day for fun.  Saturday 9 November was the day of Morehead City’s Veterans’ Day parade and Dianne had suggested that we might want to watch it.  As President of the local Republican Party women’s group, she was co-ordinating decorating their float, so we helped to attach flags and banners and chatted with her friends and colleagues before heading off to find a suitable vantage point from which to watch the parade.  We were offered a ride on the float but declined; we’d get a much better view of the parade as a whole from the roadside.

It was a huge parade, taking over an hour to go past.  It opened with a band from the US Marine Corps, shortly followed by a division of sailors from the US Navy Medical Unit at Cherry Point.

Bottom left:  the world’s slowest F18 but the parade’s most dangerous golf-cart (and it wins our vote for best in parade).  Bottom right:  local military museum volunteers ‘mortaring’ sweets onto those watching the parade

Then followed a remarkable number of local politicians and elected officials, waving and throwing sweets for the watching children, after which were entries from military affairs committees, military museums and many, many local veterans’ organisations.  I say ‘entries’ because Dianne told us that all the parade participants would go past a judging station towards the end of the route, and that there would be some kind of prize for the ‘best’ entry (entries?) in the parade.  She was vague about, in fact unsure of, the criteria for ‘best’ and we were certainly at a loss as to how one would choose between the golf cart decorated as an F18, any or all of the vehicles that drove past, the school bands (and flag wavers), the political parties’ floats and anything and everything inbetween.

When the long succession of veterans’ and vaguely military organisations had passed, community organisations marched through.  First up, a couple of school bands complete with their flag troops…..

……followed by the local car group showcasing their classic British and American sports cars, all polished chrome and gleaming bodywork.

There were vintage pickup trucks (anyone remember ‘The Waltons’?), with slightly popping engines.

And then Jeeps and a huge line-up of more modern muscle cars – more gleaming metalwork but this time with properly growling engines.

The parade rounded off with a small group of cowgirls and half a dozen firetrucks, old and new, with lights flashing and sirens wailing.  It was quite a spectacle and the breadth of organisations in the parade amazed us; the only link between them all being their declared support for their serving military and veterans.  And quite who ‘won’ the parade we never found out……..

View across Taylor Creek towards Beaufort from Shackleford Bank Island

BV in the anchorage – note the high tide

We followed up an All-American parade with an All-American lunch at a diner with Dianne and then she dropped us back at the dinghy dock after a really fun morning out.  It was still a beautiful day and, since we were already playing hooky from boat jobs, we decided to continue the theme for the rest of the day.  So we dinghied across to Shackleford Bank Island and took a walk.

🎵 Wild horses….

….couldn’t drag me away 🎵

We had a lovely walk around the island though the tide was high so we couldn’t take the outside loop around on the beach as there was no beach!  However, we did see a good number of the wild horses for which the island is well known…...

Lovely views across the Outer Banks

…….as well as some great views to seaward.

The horses are said to be descended from Spanish ponies that were brought over very early on in America’s colonial past but they are actually of more modern descent, the Spanish horses had died or been killed in, I think, the early 1900s.

The Back Street Pub

The Back Street Pub’s open fire was a delight
to stand next to with the chilly conditions outside

We finished our day of rest with drinks out with Carol & Steve (Innamorata II) and Matthew (Barfly), who had arrived in the anchorage that day.  We started at the microbrewery but it was very busy with a football game on the TV so we moved to the Back Street Pub.  This is a ‘proper’ pub with, best of all on a cold autumn evening, a roaring open fire.  We drank beer, toasted ourselves by the flames and talked boats, maintenance and future plans.  A fun end to a fun day.

Matthew (Barfly) and Steve (Innamorata II) deep in conversation

Beaufort, North Carolina, USA