So Long Ocracoke... We Had A Blast

    Our last night in Ocracoke was great.  Good friends Russ and Michelle took us for a beach ride to "the point" to watch the sunset.  The sunset was spectacular!  We all then headed back to their place for the best fettuccine alfredo we have had, bar none.  Michelle out did herself with dinner.  We even got a shout out and special request played on the Ocracoke radio station thanks to Mr. Russ and his connections.  The radio station played Southern Style by Darius Rucker of course.  One of the best dogs ever, Whiff, who belongs to Russ & Michelle also had a big night and was exhausted by the end of dinner.

  Russ, Michelle, and Whiff, thank you so much for all the good times. We miss you already and can’t wait to see ya’ll again and your new house in Ocracoke in the spring. 

    Today’s trip from Ocracoke to Morehead City was BEAUTIFUL.  We left at 7:20 AM.  Just doesn’t get any better with not a cloud in the sky and light winds.  There were shrimping boats all over the sound.  “Tis the season” for shrimp.

  

  Entering Morehead from Adams Creek there were dolphins chasing us in our wake.  Not a good picture, but trust me, there were lots and lots of dolphins.

 

    We pulled into Morehead City Yacht Basin about 3:15 PM. Morehead City has one of the two deep water ports of North Carolina.  The primary export here is phosphates from the Aurora mine owned by PotashCorp.  This mine is currently the largest producer of phosphates in the world and much of the ore moves through the port in Morehead.  These are some of the industrial buildings and phosphate barges in Morehead.

    Morehead City is also well known for its recreational fishing opportunities.  Its proximity to the Continental Shelf and Gulf Stream make for easy access to deep water fish such as marlin, wahoo, mahi mahi, grouper, snapper, and sea bass.  In 1957 the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament was established here and the event continues to draw huge crowds to Morehead City to witness some of the largest Atlantic blue marlin to be caught in North America.  With a grand price of over $1 Million Dollars, sportfish boats come from all over the East Coast.  The event occurs every year in June.

Fishing boats on the docks at Morehead City Yacht Basin.

    The trip from Ocracoke to Morehead covered 67 miles today and we did stop to take on about 850 gallons of diesel fuel at Jarrett Bay just before getting into Morehead due to a cheap fuel price.  Tomorrow’s weather is predicted to be stellar and we are planning to go out the inlet here and run all the way to Georgetown, SC outside.