Not so belle Belhaven

We left our gloomy anchorage (first picture) yesterday, preparing to go down a 22-mile ditch in the swamp (second picture). it was Eeyore all the way. Our cruising guide had suggested that Belhaven is lovely and popular stopover. The third picture is the main industry here in Belhaven, the fertilizer factory. With the wrong wind-direction, it is quite fragrant. The town itself is seen in the fourth picture. The very cultured lady at the local gourmet wine and cheese store told us in her lovely British tones, "we are a two-stoplight town you know....." The fifth picture documents the BEST thing about Belhaven: a marvelous public library with computer access, wi-fi, a lovely remodeled interior and a screened-in porch with rockers for reading the paper, etc. To it's credit there are a block or two of lovely, stately homes in the southern tradition at the very far end of town, but most of the town is either dying or dead. The anchorage itself afforded little protection in the hellacious south wind that blew last night, but today the weather has settled down and we were able to walk the mile to the Food Lion and reprovision successfully. On the way there I saw a new sight: a cotton-field in bloom. We had to walk over and pick a wee bit...We are truly in the real South now. The library even carries the most recent edition of "Conservative Citizen" in the periodical section. Needless to say, we did not have a look at it. There are quite a number of boats anchored here, as it is a well-used stopover for pilgrims on the trail. That is really what it feels like. It is unthinkable, the number of boats that are heading south along the intercoastal as we are. We see folks we have seen before at any number of different ports. We also get passed by just about every other boat as we are very nearly the slowest "on the trail" at all times. That is, except under sail. Yesterday we spent a glorious half-hour under sail without the droning of the diesel, and during that time we flew! Being the slowest has certain advantages: for example, there is always someone ahead of you to let you know where to go. We met up with another fellow slow-poke today, a gentleman from Quebec named Claude. We intend to meet up this evening to discuss kind of teaming up. He is sailing all by himself, and although experienced with the ICW is not anxious to truly go it alone. We travel about the same speed and prima facie appear to have the same basic cruising philosophy (called gunk-holing) so it all appears to be a good fit. We'll be taking the next couple of days to get to the Beaufort area and then hope to grab a slip at a marina to ride out some inclement weather that has been predicted. Wayne has heard that the ICW below Beaufort is quite different, "Prince of Tides"-type scenery. That would be a welcome change from the interesting but seemingly endless and buggy swamp. Those of you in the UP will smirk to know that while we are having warm, humid weather, we are also still getting bit by mosquitos.