7 Aug 13

After a very restful night, interrupted only by a passing shrimp boat at about 4:45, we got the anchor up about an hour before high tide and headed north again; destination - Blackbeard I., reputedly the place where Blackbeard the pirate spent some time. Another quiet anchorage; we were the only ones here when we anchored just after 13:00. There is a beautiful, totally deserted beach at the north end of the island, so we went for a long walk and collected a few nice shells. I went for a swim and cleaned the waterline; good crop of barnacles on the boot stripe, particularly on the starboard side - we are going to have to move the anti-fouling paint up about 3 inches at the next haul-out. After dinner, we took a long dinghy ride up Blackbeard Creek until sunset. Lots of dolphins swimming around the boat all evening. Then, to top it off, after dark, the best star-gazing night of the trip; no moon, no light pollution and no clouds.