Here we sit in Town Creek, just around the corner from the Beaufort City Docks. We arrived about 1pm yesterday, just before the wind picked up.

We left Mile Hammock Just before 7am, in time to make a 7:30 bridge opening. As we were picking up the anchor, I hear the Bridgetender on VHF, "Camp LeJeune will be conducting live-firing operations from 8am-9am and again from 10am-12noon. The ICW will be closed to traffic during those hours". The section that closes is just about 1 mile north of the bridge we were headed for, so we were'nt sure if they'd let us through. We'd be at the beginning of the section that closes before 8, but we wouldn't be out the other side till after 8. We decided to go for it and hope for the best. There was a Marine patrol boat posted at the start of the firing range. They contacted us on the radio, and told us to proceed at optimum speed. Optimum speed...7 knots! Okay, here we go. We came out the other side of the firing range at about 8:10, and firing commenced at approximately 8:12! BOOM!

The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. Several dolphin sitings, but none that played in our bow wave...they're the best.

We'll probably stay here another night, waiting for the wind to back off and shift from the northeast to south. Our next day of travel takes us up the neuse River and across the Pamlico...both open and exposed to northeast winds. It would just be a sloppy, uncomfortable ride...not dangerous, but we're looking for easy, so we'll wait.