New Bern, NC - Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are in New Bern to attend the Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous. We wanted to see what a gathering like this was all about, and so far we have really enjoyed ourselves. There have been discussions on weather, safety, internet/wi-fi antennas, etc. Some seminars have been more useful than others but it is always interesting to hear other people's experiences and opinions. Cruisers are an opinionated bunch and even on the rare occasions where there's a general consensus there always seems to be a few dissenters. So you can ask a simple question, such as "Will I find wi-fi access in the out islands?" and you will invariably get answers ranging from "it's not reliable, and you have to have an expensive high-powered antenna to pick up a signal" to "great -- I have never had a problem finding a free connection with just my internal PC antenna". So while it is nice to hear someone else share their information, no two cruising experiences are the same so you just gather the info and make your own decision. We are planning to head south in January and work our way through the Caribbean islands down to Grenada, so we wanted to hear other people's experiences, good and bad. We still plan to hit each island (within reason) and form our own opinion, but sometimes it is so useful to hear firsthand information. For example, we met a wonderful couple (John and Jenny from Al Shaheen) who have been that far south already and are heading back down this season. We had previously read that it wasn't worth spending too much time in Puerto Rico so we had just planned it as a provisioning stop, but they offered a different opinion and recommended renting a car to see all of the island. So now we are planning to spend a little more time there and rent the car for more than just provisioning. We have met many other couples who have also given us sound advice based on their experience. So the side trip up the Neuse River to New Bern has been well worth it.

The town of New Bern has been a nice stopover as well. Did you know that New Bern, NC is the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola? No? Well, now you do. Some of the local cruisers have volunteered to shuttle people back and forth to Wal-mart, and a few trusting souls are willing to just give you the keys to their car. So this morning we and several other cruisers piled into a van driven by a soccer dad who lives here now but has sailed with his family (including three boys all under the age of 14 and a dog they added while in Puerto Rico) throughout the Caribbean. After hearing how they all lived pretty cozily for several seasons on a 42-foot (I think) monohull, I vowed never to feel cramped on our boat again!

This evening we headed to a restaurant run by a local Mennonite family. The food was simple but inexpensive and, after being welcomed personally by the owner, as a bonus he and one of the traditionally-dressed waitresses serenaded the dining guests with an a capella spiritual hymn. It was very moving and an interesting change from the waterfront pubs that we usually head to. Of course a drawback is that Kevin now wants to grow a Mennonite-style beard (no mustache). I told him to go for it, but I'm not going to wear a lace hat.