Mahi Mahi – Sat May 17 : Gale Creek Anchorage to Belhaven North Carolina

On Saturday May 17th we left our beautiful anchorage at Gale Creek-1, and headed off to Belhaven North Carolina. It was a short 25 mile ride (about 2.5-3.0 hours). We purposely planned the short ride because we knew that we were going to stay in the Belhaven Marina. Being cost-conscious boaters, you get a lot more marina value if you arrive at noon vs 5/6pm. The early arrival allows us to get some laundry done, restock the boat at the grocery store, take some nice hot showers, and visit the local town.

Our voyage was initially very peaceful on a section of water I would like to call “The Narrows”. It reminded me of a section of water on the Trent-Severn Waterway, as it looks like a runway.

After the Narrows, we entered a very open area of water called the Pamlico River. It was quite breezy and moderately choppy, but luckily we were heading into the waves.

We arrived at Belhaven Marina about Noon and got fuel up and settled into our slip.

After being at Belhaven for a little while and doing some research of my blog from 2018, I realized that me and Jonell had stayed here in 2018.

Belhaven Marina is very small, but it may be the most quaint little marina that I have ever stayed at. They have a wonderful little deck out back to socialize with other boaters, and unlike most marinas – have individual Bathrooms (most have 1 large bath room with several showers). The shower rooms have very nice nautical decorations & towels supplied by the marina. That deck out back for socializing worked very well – Jerry & I met 4 other boaters and consumed 3 Red Stripe Beers during the process 👌 . Unfortunately, Deena was doing laundry while Jerry & I were making friends.

In spite of being a very small marina, Belhaven has some pretty significant history. In 1928, Belhaven was thrust into the national spotlight when it became the final link to complete the inland route of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, connecting Beaufort to Boston, making it an ocean seaport.

Saturday night we went to dinner at Belhaven’s finest, a restaurant called Spoon River Artworks & Market. Jonell & I had been there in 2018 also. As their name suggest, the place is highly decorated. We asked about the lighting chandeliers – the lights were made using recycled books. The artist actually collected the old books herself from the scrap heep. They are also decorated with beautiful flowers all over the place. As with trying to re-live many memories, the food this time was ok, but not as good on this day, as when Me & Nellie ate here in 2018.

We ended the night with a little serenity, sitting on top of the upper deck bar at Belhaven Marina.