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Horses along Bath Creek
Bath Creek Docks
Palmer Marsh House
Dowry Creek Marina on the Pungo River
City of Washington Town Docks
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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.
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 gentlemen 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. Requested by merchants
fearing Blackbeard's wrath, naval Lieutenant Robert Maynard
sailed to Ocracoke Inlet and slew the pirate in a bloody battle.
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.
Farther west up the Pamlico River
is Washington, a perfect place for a day trip. Located at
the head of the river, Washington is the final destination
on the Pamlico. Many cruisers choose to dock elsewhere, spend
a day cruising out to Washington, and then heading back. 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
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