April 15 - 16 / Day 329 - 330 / Beaufort to Oriental / 31 NM

Osprey in her nest

Sunday 4/15    Up early again and off the dock at 6:30.  We are trying to get to our destination before some nasty weather rolls in.  We experienced some heavy rain on the trip over but didn't see the thunderstorms.  We arrived at River Dunes @ 10:15. 

The storm is abrewin'

The winds were whippin'

This place is so perfect. . . I'm surprised it even rains here.  It's a high-end residential community with an emphasis on boating (no golf).  There are beautiful homes, pool area,  fitness room, church, restaurant, cafe, lovely shops and a general store.  They have cottages to rent as well.

A few of the single family homes on the property

another one

and another

pool

fitness center

Adorable church

The interior of the church

Restaurant 

Shops and cafe on the left and the general store on the right

A close of of the general store.

 It's a very protected spot for our boat.  Kim, David and their friends Wendy and Steve stopped by to visit.  We gave them a tour of the boat, had a great lunch in the on site restaurant and shared some great stories.  We wish Kim & David the best into their re-entry into work and dirt dwelling:).

Observer safe in her slip

Kim, Wendy and Steve in our salon

Tim, Alice, Kim, Dave, Wendy and Steve

Will and Halcyon, along with their dog, Sam,  of OMEGA 3 (from Bath Maine) invited us for docktails on their boat.  We had a great time trading stories.  Fun fact -Halcyon has a loom on their boat - no kidding.  We had short ribs on board by way of our pressure cooker and braced for some nasty weather over night.  It rained and blew (gusting up to 45 mph) but we were saved from the lightening.

Will and Sam

Omega 3 has a dumb waiter to transport things from the salon to the fly bridge...Boat envy!

Monday 4/16 our plan was to move on today but heavy winds through some open water areas (along with 4 other folks at the marina advising us not to leave) made us re-think our plan A for the day.  We stayed put and took advantage of the fitness area and spa like bathrooms, walked Millie around the development, charted our course over the next few days and filed our income taxes.  Leftovers on board capped off our 'day off' so to speak.

Sunset