Horses along Bath Creek

Bath Creek Docks

Palmer Marsh House

Dowry Creek Marina on the Pungo River

City of Washington Town Docks

The name means "beautiful harbor," and the delightful southern town of Belhaven, with its old forests and clear streams, remains one of the most popular stops in North Carolina. It's a village framed by large oaks and homes constructed in the simplistic architecture of eastern North Carolina. This is the site of the Belhaven Memorial, a museum displaying the Eva Blount Way collection of antiques and artifacts.

While in Bath, dockage can be obtained at the town docks on the eastern shore, but there is no water, electricity, or restroom facilities. A little south of the town docks is the Bath Guest House, a bed and breakfast which offers dockage for its patrons only.

The best anchorage is in Bath Creek. The creek is protected by a high bluff that overlooks the half-mile wide harbor. The entrance to Bath Creek is wide, but the channel is narrow and tucked back off the Pamlico River near the shoreline.

The towns of Bath and Washington both hold significant historical and cultural importance. While it seems every town in coastal North Carolina can lay claim to at least one story of Blackbeard the Pirate, it was the small village of Bath that enticed Edward Teach to give up his life of plundering and make this village his final home. Prior to the summer of 1718, his bold acts of piracy and pillaging had reached heroic proportions, fueling contempt and outrage from the citizens of Virginia and South Carolina. The governors of these two neighboring states expanded their efforts to capture Blackbeard, and for the first time in his career, he began to fear for his life. This new and real threat of hanging led Blackbeard to accept Royal Governor Charles Eden's condition of pardon. And he gave up pirating.

Teach married a sixteen-year-old girl and settled into the life of a gentleman-merchant engaged in legitimate trade. He purchased a home on Plum Point, across the mouth of Bath Creek, and from this bluff overlooking the Pamlico River, he watched the many ships sailing into Bath. These very ships, loaded with goods, would become his downfall. In September 1718, he claimed to have discovered a richly laden French vessel drifting crewless at sea. Fearing his return to piracy, his neighbors grew restless and began to fear for their safety. Although he still called Bath home, his heart yearned for the sea, and by November that year, his passion for adventure cost him dearly. Hired by merchants fearing Blackbeard's wrath, naval Lieutenant Robert Maynard sailed to Ocracoke Inlet and slew the pirate in a bloody battle.

Farther west up the Pamlico River is Washington. Located at the head of the river, Washington has a revamped waterfront making it a delightful destination for those seeking downtown dockage and modern conveniences and amenities.

Heading east through the Pamlico River, leaving Washington behind and making your way back to the Intracoastal Waterway, the combined effect of the river current at your back and the lack of rough water will make this as pleasant a cruise as you'll find in North Carolina. Navigating the cut to the Neuse River is also an easy sail and offers several fine anchorages.

- Eddie Jones