Zeising's Anchorage - at anchor

It's a beautiful house, great setting

We had winds to 25 kts until almost midnight so we thought we'd get an early start Tuesday morning so we would find less wind going down the Neuse River. We were successful in getting off by 7:30 am and the wind was a lot less than last night at only 8 kts or so but when we turned the corner into the Neuse River, the wind gauge jumped immediately to 15 kts! That was fine, it's a lot less than 25 kts. Onward we soldiered and the winds increased to 20 to 25 kts again as we turned the corner to enter the canal leading to the Zeisings. Later in the week we were to cross the Albemarle which is not good to do in winds greater than 15 kts. The forecast, for that that's worth - not a lot, does predict lessening winds when we plan to leave Friday or Saturday.

An inviting path to the Zeisings

The anchorage at the Zeisings is one we sounded out ourselves with a depth sounder on our dinghy. The charts show a depth much less than actual and so discourages the use of the anchorage by boats with drafts of more than 5 ft. In fact, it's much deeper, generally 7 to 8 ft. We go in even further to the 6.5 ft mark and enjoy protection from all directions except east. With all the high winds to be out of the west, we were in a good spot.

We went in for a visit around 3:30 and met Pat who was preparing dinner. Pat and Bill have finished repairs after Irene and the grounds and house look perfect. They have a house that sits on two pedestals elevated 13 feet above sea level. Irene produced a storm surge that's unimaginable now when sitting on their back porch. The surge reached 9 feet and if one had been in their house at the time, it would have been an island in the sea (they were in NY at the time).

We'll be here for at least Friday and perhaps Saturday before heading north once again.