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Coastal North Carolina –
Lake Murray’s Last Cruise of the Season
No squadron boats signed up for the 23 October
2021 small boat cruise on the Congaree River, Lake Murray’s coastal cruise to
Ocracoke became the last cruise of the season. And boy what a cruise it was!
Organized by P/Cs David Allen and Charlie Bruce, four boats towed to Beaufort,
N.C., on 30 September while David and Debra headed north from Little River,
S.C., aboard Surcee on 27 September in order to meet the cruisers in
Ocracoke on Friday 1 October.
After stops at Wrightsville Beach, Swansboro
and Oriental, Surcee was joined in Ocracoke by Charlie and Diane Bruce aboard
Obsession, Tony and Donna Dodson aboard Donna Marie IV, Charlie
and Stephanie Heath aboard Sweet Haven and Fred and Susan Ruinen aboard
No Shoes.
True to the squadron’s past experience,
the cruise across Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke was on the bumpy side – Surcee took
spray on her flybridge during the 30 September crossing, while the cruisers
likened their crossing on 1 October to being on Lake Murray during a thunder
storm. Yet, when we returned to Oriental on Sunday 3 October, Pamlico Sound was
like a mill pond.
We had a terrific time touring Ocracoke by
golf cart and bicycles and enjoyed some really fine restaurants. From the sleepy
village of Oriental, Donna Marie IV and No Shoes headed back to
Beaufort in order to return to work. With the weather forecast looking dismal
further south and hoping to avoid another ICW closure like the one encountered
on the northbound leg of the cruise, Surcee’s crew opted to start their
three-day journey down the ICW at the same time. However, Obsession and
Sweet Haven decided to explore New Bern, N.C., discovering it was
definitely worth the trip up the Neuse River.
Don’t miss out on the next cruise to the North
Carolina coast! Check out the photos below to see the sights from Lake Murray’s
last cruise of the season.
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