I am fairly certain that I am not the only ‘Beaufort-ly Challenged’ individual. The names of these cities in each state are spelled the same but pronounced differently. Which, from an outsiders point of view may not be a big deal but to the denizens of these towns it certainly is. We have been corrected (ever-so-kindly) more than once on the pronunciations and this is the tutorial in a nutshell (poached from a Google site} “The Beaufort of South Carolina is pronounced "BYOO-fert" (as in "beautiful"). The Beaufort of coastal North Carolina is "BOH-fert" (as in "Beauregard"), which is also the correct pronunciation of the Duke of Beaufort's name…” O.K. we will stop there. So, we are in Beaufort, NC and it was a big day on the ICW to get here, eight hours and roughly 70NM. Some very shallow areas especially at each inlet from the ocean where shoaling is especially prevalent. We make our way into the Beaufort Docks Marina and happily accept their ‘Wooden Nickle' drink tokens. We exchange them for a couple of Yuengling beers at the ‘Dive Bar'. We plan to be here for two days but make it three due to weather. Not a bad place to spend some time as this city is beautiful, friendly and welcoming. Great food, friendly bars, beautiful homes and scenery. A great Nautical Museum and National Seashore complete with their own wild horses of Shackelford’s Island. Also, did I mention that Congrio joined the party in Beaufort due to weather on the Outer Banks?!? So great to see you guys!