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| Swansboro Police Station & Water tower |
Seven hours of motoring and motor sailing brought us down Adams Creek, past Morehead City and along Bogue Sound. Our cruising guide warned us of narrow channels along Bogue Sound and "hard" edges that could easily put us aground. The cruising guides are designed to make sure that Maryanne doesn't get too comfortable with our cruising routine. The guides have warnings galore. Again we saw dolphins and pelicans on our way out of a canal into the harbor behind Morehead City. We also saw a Harrier jet loud enough to make our teeth rattle. It seemed to be practicing hovering near some trees in the distance and landing. Then it rose slowly out of the trees and took off like a rocket.
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These guys were working on this house next to
Dudley's Marina when we arrived. This does
not look like a stress-free job to me. |
Rather than anchor in the currents in Swansboro we decided to take it easy and stay at a 75 cents per foot dock at Dudley's Marina. Once again I displayed my incredible docking skill, turning the bow into the current that was carrying us sideways away from the dock. I manage to quickly throw a bow line and then a stern line to the line handlers on the dock as I began drifting away. Fortunately, they got a good hold on the lines. Unfortunately, my stern line was over the top of my stern rail so that if the line were pulled too hard it could bend the rail. I also learned during this docking experience that when I leave the helm I should put the engine in neutral. Leaving it in reverse makes it so much harder to pull the boat in! It's something like parking your car and leaving it in reverse. Oh, well...some quick instructions to Maryanne had our boat in forward gear to correct the problem and then in neutral as we were pulled in. I swear I will get this docking thing right before the end of the cruise.
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I love mermaids and figureheads.
this one was on the Mercantile,
a store in Swansboro. We want
to spend more time in Swansboro
on the way back. |
Maryanne has been perfecting her acrobatic skills at Dudley's. To disembark she climbs over the lifelines and stands on the rail. From there she steps atop a piling and then steps down onto the dock. I'm trying to encourage her to spend more time atop the piling posing but she's not very enthusiastic. She has a tendency to make rude remarks whenever I give her my clever suggestions.
We met up with Marie, Francois, and Mario at Dudley's. They had been at Deaton's yacht yard with us waiting out the gale warnings on their two boats. Maryanne and I surprised them with her fresh baked (from scratch) chocolate chip brownies at Dudley's. They were not just impressed with the delicious brownies. They were amazed at our timing. They had just been talking to each other about needing a good desert when I showed up with the brownies. The next day Marie left a can of Canadian pure maple syrup in our cockpit as a thank you.
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| Clyde greeted us out in front of Dudley's |
We had hoped to motor from Swansboro to Wrightsville Beach but our new friends Francois and Mario told us about the restrictions on the bridges that we need to have open for us. The bridges are set to open up on the hour or hourly half past the hour. You are guaranteed not to make some of those openings if you travel at 6 knots as we do. Those kinds of delays could have us out in the middle of nowhere in the dark with no place to anchor. Maryanne really doesn't like those kinds of situations.
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| Swansboro - we are surrounded by miles and miles of marshland. |
We decided to head to an anchorage called Mile Hammock next to Camp Lejeune. The Cruising Guide warned about possibility of live fire exercises in which the marines shoot across the ICW. Those exercises could cause some serious delays also. We were lucky - there were no flashing lights or other signs that live fire was taking place.
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STOP DO NOT PROCEED
Live Firing in progress when flashing
Tune to AM 530 |
The guides warned that Mile Hammock might not be a very tranquil area to anchor since the Marines may be doing various night exercises or amphibious landings. In this case the guides were correct.
The anchorage had a number of camouflage colored boats practicing landings on the dock when we arrived at 2 pm. This evening helicopters practiced night landings and hovering near us in the woods. They came roaring over the boats in the harbor a little above mast height for several hours. We thought the noise had finally stopped when I heard a boat bang into me in the crowded little harbor. When I ran up on deck there was no boat near me. Just then another loud boom sounded - bombs being exploded in the distance. The sound carries through the water and our hull as though we are being hit. Just another relaxing day of cruising.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkRw8QtHxTA
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