35.01.394N   076.41.862W

Hopefully Jim Pitts will forgive us for not flying our burgee from the masthead but as the clearance of the fixed bridges on the ICW is 65ft and by my calculations Moonbeam’s mast is 63ft to the top of the VHF antenna- hence we took the burgee stick down!

Up anchor at 0800 to catch the Beaufort Lifting Bridge at 0830 and up through Town Creek to rejoin the ICW. Another very hot day and the route took us straight into the countryside with occasional houses but also dolphins, ospreys and other wildlife.

We had heard Oriental was worth a visit but as it was only 22 miles away we nearly passed it by. However we anchored off the harbour at lunch time, went for a walk and were totally smitten ! A quiet immaculate little town with no litter, interesting buildings, friendly people and an excellent hardware store ( plus lovely ice cream ! )

Next morning we were away at 0700 and continued to head North through Pamlico River and various sounds and cuts to finally anchor 10 miles past Belhaven in a lovely reedy pool just before the Aligator River – Pungo Creek Canal. On the way we were buzzed by various local bugs including a hornet like insect with a bowsprit that was the size of a very small bird !

The Red Ensign seems to confuse the Yanks who thought maybe we were Australian!