2019: New Bern NC

25 October 2019

Depart: Fairfield Harbour Anchorage off Neuse River, New Bern, NC 1:00

Arrive: Trent River Anchorage, New Bern, NC 2:20

Distance: 5 nm

Our original plan this morning was to leave early and move to a spot nearer downtown New Bern. With the New Bern Grand Marina packed to capacity, we had a couple of anchorage areas in mind as our destination. Before we got going, our friend Ralph, who had invited us to visit, called us to say we should stop over for a visit at his house.

We moved from the anchorage to the dock behind his house. With two boats we had to get creative with docking, we got the boats tied up just fine. Getting off "Home Too" looked to be an impossibility until Ralph showed up with a ladder.

Cathy holding ladder at bow of "Home Too"

When we found out Ralph had been called into work tonight, we changed our plans to spend the morning at his house, have lunch, and then travel to New Bern. Ralph and his dog, Chewy, joined us on board with Cathy and Franklin.

Ralph and dog Chewy

After lunch on Sunset Delight, Ralph gave us a tour of his house as it is being rebuilt after hurricane Florence devastation.

Reading the reviews of the two anchorages, we selected a spot just after the railroad bridge in New Bern on the Trent River. 

Approaching the draw bridge

Views of New Bern ...

Train crossing the railroad bridge shortly after we came through

As soon as we got the anchor set, Clark started the task of getting the dinghy ready to transport us into town.  On step number one, remove the flag pole so we can swing the dinghy, we had an immediate failure.

The screw that holds the flag pole in place would not turn and could not be removed.  Having used a variety of tools, when Clark finally got the screw out, he found it showed signs of crevice corrosion. The next task should have been simple, i.e. pull pole out of holder. Unfortunately, water had gotten into the holder and the wood swelled. That sucker was not coming out of there without putting up a real good fight.

To remove our flag, Clark has to stand on the gunwale at the stern of the boat. Today, yanking on the flag pole with all of his strength, he was afraid that if it finally let go, he and it would go flying off the back of the boat into the water. He invited me to join him up on the gunwale to help. In the past I would have told him he was crazy to even think I would climb up there on a ledge, but he “made” me do it at home to help with his varnishing project, so I knew I could do it again.

To get up on the “ledge” I have to step up on the gunwale at the front of the cockpit and walk along the ledge until I get to the stern and then turn and go across the stern until I get to the middle … all rather scary. Once there, Clark had me hold the flag pole with one hand while I held onto the boat with the other. Then we worked together pulling and rocking the flag pole until it finally gave way. Fortunately, neither of us fell off the back of the boat in the process.

Once removed, he worked on the screw to make it work again, and sanded down the pole to fix the swelled wood issue. He said that the sanded-down wood needed to be coated with something to protect it. Fortunately, I brought my acrylic spray with me that I use for my painting. Since it claims to be water resistant and dries quickly, it seemed to be ideal. I sprayed it and left it to dry. Removing the flag so we could get the dinghy down, only took about one-and-a-half to two hours. Actually lowering the dinghy was done in a flash in comparison!

“Home Too” does not have a dinghy, so we stopped by to pick them up to go into town. Four of us on the dinghy with our miscellaneous bags made for a cozy situation to say the least. We landed at the public dock near the pump out station at the New Bern Grand Marina and climbed out to walk around town until dinner time.  

City Hall in New Bern, NC

Christ Church Pumpkin Patch 

It would not be New Bern without their selection of bears. We saw some of them as we walked through town.

Bernie at the Euro Store in New Bern

If the above bears don't meet your fancy, you can paint your own.

Rows of paint-able bears

We even saw an antique car on our stroll complete with a suitcase on its boot.

Clark and I met Pat and Dick on “Dream Catcher” when we did the Great Loop in 2015-2016, and they live in the New Bern area. When I knew we would be in town, I contacted Pat and they met us for dinner at Morgan’s Tavern.  Clark said the trout special he had to eat was the best he had ever eaten – it disappeared in record time!

We had a great time catching up with Pat and Dick. The time flew by, and all too soon, we had to say goodbye to get back to the boat. Before heading back to the dinghy, we stopped at a place in town for some provisioning. Given the season, it was already dark for the trip back to the boat. We dropped Franklin and Cathy off at their boat and then returned to ours for the “fun”, twenty-minute job of resetting the dinghy on top of Sunset Delight.