It's not often I get a chance nowadays to get a solo weekend away, so when the chance came a couple of weekends ago... An early dark start from Durham down to Harkers Island, packed the boat, parked the truck in the Ranger Station car park, filed a trip with the good folks there, and headed off.
Had a tight sail across to the Morehead City end of Shackelford Island, and punched out Beaufort entrance with the tide. Gets a bit tricky dodging all the fishing boats there. And then a great sail all the way up Shackelford, enjoying the beach line and the wild horses.Camped on the island among the sand dunes just across from Lookout Bight. Took a long walk along the beach and enjoyed an early supper watching the most wonderful sunset around 1700 hrs. Snuggled in my tent with toasty down Macpac sleeping bags, reading the first half of a real live novel, Sue Grafton's U is for Undertow.
Cuppa and porridge the next morning, an incredible sunrise, temperatures warming up to around C20, but wasn't going to leave until I'd finished the book and waited for the dew to dry on the tent. 1000 and a slow two-hour paddle sail inside Barden Inlet, back up to Harkers. A true "holiday" 35km trip, altogether.New gear on this trip: The smaller version of the CGear sand mat. In a word: fantastic. Being able to unload and load, sit and muck around, and no sand anywhere. As always (see previous blog entries), I cannot rave enough about these mats.
Also, the Crazy Creek HexAlite Original Chair. Finally, a chair I can roll up and fit in my Sisson's 7" hatches, and it's light and flexible. Having a chair of some sort is a true luxury.
And, of course, a Morehead City Els Shrimp Burger on the way home...
