Cape Lookout Bight

Taking the advice of our friends, Bob and Dori, we aimed Virginia Dare toward Cape Lookout Bight when we left Beaufort on Monday morning.  We found a very protected anchorage with very few other boats, dropped our anchor in 25' of pretty green water, and relaxed for two days under the watchful eye of the Cape Lookout lighthouse.

Beaufort is just off the top of the map.  We motored out Beaufort channel, turned to the east, and headed for the bight.

Happy to cut the engine and sail(!!) over there (lighthouse in the distance).

Cape Lookout lighthouse

Thank you, Randy from Durango, Colorado, for giving us a bag of mahi.  It was delicious!

Monday evening's sunset

Looking east toward the lighthouse at sunset

It shines its beam every 15 seconds

On Tuesday morning, we explored the perimeter of the anchorage in the dinghy.

About to catch a fish!

Abandoned house on the Cape Lookout National Seashore

Three pelicans, one perch

Shackleford Banks, a deserted island with over 100 wild horses.

We found lots of hoof marks in the sand and plenty of fresh "evidence" but never spotted a horse on Tuesday morning.

We don't know why there were so many horseshoe crab shells on the beach.

Nature's art

Amber waves of grain

So pretty blowing in the breeze

More evidence.........

A couple of bright spots in the scrub

David on a high dune looking for horses which we suspect were hunkered down in the shade of the trees.  If you look closely, you can see their trail to the beach curving across the bottom of the picture.

Prickly pear......you DON'T want to step on one of these!

Lighthouse as seen from Shackleford

Horseshoe crab just off the beach

Virginia Dare at anchor 

Reading in the shade -- many hours relaxing here!

Happy Cap'n

On Tuesday evening, the horses came right to the area where we had hiked that morning.

We stayed off shore and took pictures from a distance.

We saw a total of nine that evening.

On Thursday morning, we headed up the ICW to visit our friends, Bob and Dori, in Oriental, NC.  This sign along the way says, "Leslie, will you marry me?"  I wonder if she said yes :)

"Traffic"

Miss Rebecca, a shrimp boat