New Bern - Our very first hurricane

Thursday October 25, 2012
35 06.171 N
77 02.290 W

Out of the boat yard and into the storm. We have headed inland away from the coast and taken a slip in New Bern, NC. New Bern is as far west as you can get on the Neuse River, and is maybe 25 miles ATCF from the nearest Atlantic coast line. We have some friends already here, and they twisted some arms and got us the last spot in the marina. Which is good, but our slip seems a bit exposed. We arrived about 1:30 PM and Tide Hiker is now trussed up better than Dolly Parton. The forecast track keeps on being revised and it seems to be getting closer each update.

This morning was calm and misty and we were underway by about 8:30 AM. The sun eventually broke through and settled into a perfectly calm and sunny day. It was great to be moving again. I spent more time than usual in the engine room checking that the work in the boat yard had not caused any problems. The only issue was a voltage drop on the starboard engine but I found a lose wire on the alternator, and once that was back in place the voltage climbed back to normal.  We only had about 30 NM to go, and arrived at the New Bern bridge at 1:00 PM.