The boatyard here in Beaufort finalised their quote but it is really expensive. After discussions with the insurance company, we have agreed to go further south and try another boatyard – probably St Augustine, Florida. We stayed there for a few days on the north and really liked it so that will be good. We have liked Beaufort too and wouldn’t have minded staying here, although it does get a bit cold at night - better to be going south again!

We left this afternoon and spent the night a few miles south in a bay just north of Cape Lookout. This piece of coast is protected by the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, with one of the attractive black and white designs for which many of the east coast lighthouses are famed. It is also one of a very few that remains lit during the day.