Dowery Creek to Oriental

Monday 10-13-08
The weather seemed to be acting like the forecast said it should, so we set out at 07:20 bound for Oriental, NC. It was a delightful morning and we had breakfast on the bridge as we cruised down the Pungo River to cross the Pamlico River and enter Goose Creek and the Hobucken cut. We saw a pod of dolphins swimming back and forth in Goose Creek but when Polly got to the lower deck with her camera, they never surfaced again. The series of smaller sheltered waterways eventually led us onto the Neuse River. The Neuse is a broad expanse of water that lays roughly NE to SW and since the wind was still blowing about 15 kts. from the NE, there were 2’-3’ swells running on our stern. The motion wasn’t particularly bad but a following sea and wind makes steering a chore. The occasional wave pushes against the back of the boat and causes it to fish tail. The auto pilot doesn’t handle the condition well so it is best to steer by hand.