35°2′3″ N 76°37′28″ W
Photo Below: Ed at the helm on the Neuse River, NC – 10:30am

We left Morehead City this morning at 7:00am & headed north on the ICW. Our route today took us inland away from Cape Hatteras. We followed a canal (photo below) for about 10 miles before entering the Neuse River.

The canal was a mixture of wilderness shoreline & then a mile or two of side by side houses & cottages. We did not meet any boats at all for the entire trip through the canal.

Today our destination is Belhaven, NC. The Waterway Guide Book says that this community is considered by many to be the origin of the ICW.

While we are on the Neuse River we are headed directly towards the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river. However, we will “hang a left turn” at another river outlet before we reach the ocean. Then we will start heading inland again. I took the screenshot below with my iPhone & Google Maps to give you an idea of where we are at the time of this posting.

The blue dot on the map near Oriental, NC is our current location

You can see Morehead City in the bottom left corner & Belhaven, our destination up near the top of the map on the left side.

Cheers!