Day 303 – Oriental, NC to Dowry Creek Marina, Belhaven NC - May 4, 2012

We departed from our wonderful slip at the River Dunes Harbor Club and headed out the Neuse River.  The marina here is definitely a place we would stop again.  The intercoastal basically bypasses Pamlico Sound at this point.  We take a turn to port and up the Bay River (away from Pamlico Sound) and then travel through a man-made canal that connects us to Goose Creek and the Pamlico River.  We then make the five mile crossing of the Pamlico River and turn into the Pungo River and head to Dowry Creek, which is just past the town of Belhaven.

It is a very uneventful day and the rivers and sounds are relatively quiet.  Looking out into Pamlico Sound reminds us a bit of our home waters of Saginaw Bay.  We can certainly imagine that these waters, just like Saginaw Bay, can get stirred up with just a bit of wind.

In the evening we borrow the courtesy car at the marina and head into the town of Belhaven.  After a quick dinner, we take a drive past the marinas in Belhaven – we had heard radio transmissions from Mary Francis IV and My Way during the day and we were hoping to see them and say a quick hello.  We found them tied up at River Forest Marina and spent a few minutes catching up and talking about our plans for the next few days.
 
            Miles: 39.6      Bridges: 1        Locks: 0

looking back at River Dunes Harbor Club as we leave in the morning

beautiful landscaping along the canal leading to the River Dunes
Harbor Club

traveling along Goose Creek

the Pamlico River