Washington, North Carolina

 We arrived in Washington, North Carolina on November 5, 2022. It felt good to be tied to a dock. It is so nice to be able to just step off the boat and walk around on land. I am sure that sounds strange to most people, but it is amazing what we have gotten used to. 

The dock we are tied to is a long face dock along the waterfront of Washington. It is managed by the city and is provided for free to visitors for the first two nights. We do not have shore power electricity, but our solar system makes that unneeded. After the first two nights it is $.75 per foot or $30 for our boat. The crazy thing is that after the first week, you get to start over and get two more free nights. We ended up staying 9 nights and only paid $150. We thought that was a great deal. They have nice bathrooms and showers and a pump out system ($5). There are about 20 restaurants within walking distance.

Washington is a very historic town. It was founded in the 1700's by James Bonner. He named the town after his friend George Washington. I found Bonner's grave. He served in the Revolutionary war. 

The town is known for it's boat building. There are still over 10 builders in the local area. Most build small power boats, but my favorite is a sailboat builder called Pacific Seacraft. They build a very capable blue water boat that is certainly capable of crossing oceans. They don't build many new boats these days and there is not much demand for them, so they focus on refits to the existing fleet. 

As I walked the docks of Washington, I saw this beautiful Pacific Seacraft 34 called "Bella". It looks like to me she is ready to go cross an ocean, just waiting for her crew.

The first morning that we were in town, we went to church at Mother of Mercy Catholic Church. It is a beautiful little church and school that was started in the early 1900's. It was about a mile and a half walk to church, but that gave us the opportunity to get a look at some historic buildings around town.

The very nice downtown area of Washington has many business. 

Mother of Mercy Catholic Church

This is the school that I am not sure is still open, but the building is in excellent condition.

One of the many classic old homes. This is one of the larger homes, most are much more modest. Many have the date of construction and the original owner on a small sign on the porch. Many date back to the 1700's. 

We waited and watched hurricane Nicole form in the Atlantic. The first predictions had it coming to Florida and then right up into the Carolinas. We talked to the dockmaster and they were fine with us staying as long as we wanted. They even pitched us a great price to stay for the entire winter. We met a number of other boaters in the marina that were also waiting out the storm. It was a very pleasant way to wait out the storm. 

I made walking trips to get many domestic tasks done including groceries, prescriptions and boat parts. I am trying to fix a problem with my water tank gauge, but it is not a big deal. I logged over 15 miles walking while we were in town. I loved the old churches.

A very unique bell tower on the United Methodist Church

This church was celebrating 200 years.

This was the original courthouse dating back to the 1700's, but is now used as a library.

One of the highlights of our visit was a concert that was provided by the community for free by the Air Force Band on Veterans Day. I was expecting it to be ok, but I was totally entertained for the entire 2 hour performance. They had a vocalist that was a staff sergeant, she was amazing. The performance was held at a beautiful old theater in the downtown district.

I took a number of video clips of the performance that I may publish in the future. All of the members of the band are active duty. They are based at Langley AFB.

There was a gazebo that was just a few feet away from where our boat was docked in front of the park. We saw a proposal (She said, "YES") and a wedding while we were there. 

A wedding going on just a few feet from our dock. 

Kim worked hard during our time in Washington. She finished our cockpit enclosure. We now can be inside of a layer of clear plastic all the way around. The difference in comfort is amazing. She also took advantage of the laundry ($5 for as many loads as you want) while we were at the dock. 

 Nicole came to Florida and did some significant damage, but thankfully our friends that were in harms way were spared. The storm prediction kept moving further and further west of our location. We did get some 40 knot gusts as the storm passed, but honestly we slept through the worst of it. We were very happy to wake up on the next day and see we had no damage.

We were now ready to continue our journey south. We had lost 9 days, but we are sure glad we took the time to stay safe and to get to know Washington, NC. In my next entry, I will tell the story of the next travel days. 

SHIFT waiting at the dock for the adventures to come.