Awoke at 0700 to a beautiful calm morning. We were away from the dock by 0800. The Neuse river was calm with a cool breeze. We encountered some fog for about an hour soon after we left. The radar and the navigation program made dealing with the fog easy. It started raining as we crossed the Pamlico River.
We decided that Pantego creek near Belhaven, NC would be a good place to anchor. As we were getting close the autopilot stared acting up. When we switched it off it took two turns of the wheel to get the boat to change course. I was pretty sure that we had air in the hydraulic steering system caused by a leak. I found that fluid was leaking from a pinhole in one of the hydraulic line leading from the autopilot.
We proceeded cautiously but decided to pull into a marina instead of anchoring so I could work on the steering and get any parts I needed. There were three small marinas to choose from. We picked the Belhaven Waterway Marina because it was closest to downtown and maybe where I could have some hoses fabricated. The route to the marina wasn’t obvious but the marina owner talked us in after we entered the towns breakwater at the mouth of Pantego Creek.
It turned out to be a pleasant little marina that a young couple have been fixing up over the past three years. After we docked, I removed the hydraulic line and walked a couple of blocks to a local parts and repair shop that works mostly on farm equipment but had a little of everything, They made the line in a few minutes but didn’t have enough fittings to make two. The leaking line was so badly deteriorated I knew that I should replace both lines.
We went out for dinner and had some delicious, fresh bluefish at a small seafood restaurant near the marina.
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