We left the anchorage area at the top of the Pungo River this morning at 0655 hours... the anchorage area was very active during the night... did not get exact count but there were 5-6 power boats and 7-8 sailboats anchored in the anchorage... we left what I felt was early but there were only 3-4 boats still anchored when we left.

We left following 5 power boats... all were running slightly faster than we were and soon they were well ahead of us. We had to cross Pamlico River and the Neuse River today... forecast was for 1-2 foot waves and both bodies of water were exactly as predicted if not less... sun was out most of the time and it was a pleasant cruise today.

When we entered the Neuse River we had 2 power boats still ahead of us and about 10 sailboats... the sailboats were running much slower than we were and we soon passed them all... the two power boats... both 36' Monks took the designated channel (magenta line on the charts) and we cut the corner and were soon a mile ahead of them also.

We had hoped to maybe get to use the free town dock at Oriental but found it to full (2 sailboats)... but we did find the Oriental Harbor just out from the free dock wide open... so we anchored in it just 1000 feet southwest of the free dock... 8 feet of water... 250 feet from the dinghy docks... perfect! Anchoring at 1330 hours at coordinates N35°01.404', W076°41.854'.

We traveled today for 6 hours and 35 minutes covering 47.27 nautical miles and averaging 7.18 knots.

Trip totals to date:

Distance: 749.74 nautical miles
Hours: 119 hours 56 minutes
Avg Spd: 6.25 knots
Days not moving: 3