Passage Casper Marina, Swansboro, NC to Swan Point Marina, Sneads Ferry, NC
11:15 AM Underway
3:03 Docked
16 miles 3.8 engine hours

Today started off slow. The weather forecast was to be nice 5-10kts. Hey we are going to finally anchor out at the famous Mile Hammock anchorage Camp Lejeune . This anchorage 14 miles from here and is part of Camp Lejeune and maneuvers are often taking place. We stayed there last trip and it was much fun watching the marines and hearing and feeling gun fire, helicopters , Osprey aircraft ( http://www.boeing.com/defense/v-22-osprey ) The wind is definitely more than 5-10 as we have breakfast. Current is running hard against the direction we need to go. And, of course the wind is the wrong way too. Our full enclosure on the fly bridge acts king of like a sail if the wind is right, and a parachute if it’s wrong. It’s wrong today. So, I’m delaying the departure until the wind and current slow down. Didn’t need fuel, but it was $2.03 so I filled up and also refilled the water tanks.

We finally departed about 11:15 with Casey helping me get off the dock with the current and wind going to blow us backwards fast once everything is let go. I took tension off the lines with the engine. Casey kept the spring line around a piling while I nudged the boat forward to get it re-aligned with the dock (The bow was being blown around. With a tight spring line you can get the boat positioned in just about any wind / current conditions ) We are off. But only making 4.5kts into the wind and current. Hey the wind seems to be increasing not backing off. I spot check the wind with my hand held wind meter and I’m reading 21 knots with gusts that are more. Long story short it get worse 27knots. I check the weather forecast and it still says 10-15 going down to 7-9 in the afternoon. HA. You never know.

Handling the boat was tough. Even with the autopilot. Everything, including my nerves, has it’s limits. So, I pass the anchorage and say to Susan hey find us a marina for the night. And what a fun Marina she finds. Swan Point Marina is a small older marina that has charm. It was very windy as we docked with Evelyn the dock master helping us get docked and greeted us. Nice bathrooms and some characters hanging around as the sun sets. The docks are decorated with all sorts of carved and painted things. Old rudders with scenes painted. Two side by side fish cleaning stations. One had a net with potatoes and a few apples!? The other had a can of Acetone. I hope the guy doesn’t clean his fish with Acetone. I’ll go take some pictures and post later. Got to get going. Gonna make Wrightsville Beach today. The wind is calm this morning.

Today’s picture is sunrise off looking behind the boat with a pelican perched on a piling. At the time I was taking this Evelyn, the dock master shows up with fresh hot cinnamon bread for us to have with coffee. Will be staying here on the return trip for sure.