Sunday, July 4th. Walked to town for the parade. Sat in front of a closed restaurant. They had comfy tables and chairs. Met a couple; she had on a Loopers shirt, so we started talking. Turns out they are now looping on a boat that had looped with us. Small world! Hey told us that they owned a Monk 36. We said that we had traveled with a Monk 36 on our loop. Same boat, new crew and name. Ended up going to lunch with these folks. Nice folks and good food. At night, back on the boat, we got to watch fireworks from the bow. The Beaufort fireworks plus all the other towns at a distance….Morehead City, for one….

Monday-Wednesday: There is a running joke with us at this marina….we always say we are staying for a couple of days. But, due to weather, we end up staying a couple of weeks, year after year.Reason: There aren’t any great stops in either direction where you want to get stuck for a while. And this is a good marina, good people, good location. This time is no exception. We walked, shopped, ate, borrowed the car for errands, etc. Larry also did a little prep for the storm…..

Thursday, storm day. Hurricane Elsa at her closest point. Some storms then lots of wind. With the chop in the creek, PB was bouncing all over the place. Tricky working out and showering. Gusts of 40 at 5pm and wind increasing. Were we at home, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Finished up leftovers for dinner.

Friday, laundry then last walk into town…. Lunch at Clawson’s and more shopping.

Saturday, departed the marina at 0700. Lovely day. Thinking underway today: thought of getting home, getting it all done at home and turning around and heading south again is maddening. Arrived at REMayo (mm157.3) at 3:30. This is really a fishing boat dock, so no services. Tying up was difficult due to current and no cleats, poles and rough edges….. we got it done.