June 13                   New Bern, North Carolina

The morning dawned clear, cool, and indicative of a great day for cruising to our final destination.  We both agreed that a return to Beaufort was a definite choice.  We liked the town and the friendly people.  Leaving the wide Beaufort harbor area, we entered a long cut to the Neuses River.  At this point, we turned northwest rather than continuing on the ICW.  Our charts did not have this area so we depended solely on the GPS, which fortunately did not fail. 

The Neuses is the widest river in the United States and is like a sea.  We had been warned that it could be quite challenging in bad weather.  With sunshine and mild winds, we continued without incident to New Bern.  As we cleared the picturesque swing bridge that marks the entrance to the town, we looked back to see a solid wall of rain coming towards us.  With luck, we managed to dock before another torrential afternoon thunderstorm pelted us with rain.  We welcomed the good wash down for the boat and retreated into the salon for a lovely nap.  After the rain stopped, we walked to the marina office, met the charming Nancy, and made plans to leave The Bottom Line in the marina for a month.  Dinner was a simple affair on the boat.