We left Charleston on July 23 and carried on for about 36 miles stopping at an anchorage called Minim Creek. On the way today the coast guard slowed us down and kept us away from a dolphin that was in distress. They were trying to determine if it had maybe been struck by a boat.
The next evening we stayed at Osprey Marina just south of Myrtle Beach. We were hit by another torrential rain just when we arrived and had to delay our entrance into the marina until the rain subsided.
Our next destination was Blue Water Point Marina on the south end of Oak Island, the weather was quite bad with heavy rain and lightning. This was a nice place to hole up for 2 days waiting for improved weather. There was a very good sea food restaurant that served huge portions and it was a short walk to the Atlantic side of the island to watch the surf. This was a tricky marina to get into, very shallow water and just a ditch to follow in and out. We had to leave at 5:45Am to ensure we had enough water(high tide).
We anchored the next evening at Mike Hammock Bay at mile 244 on the ICW. The bay was quite large for these parts and was an Army Staging area. There were two large docks and a huge boat ramp. There another boat there and the evening looked great. After we went to bed there were several choppers that seemed to circle the area, very noisy. Then in the middle of the night another storm. We woke to find ourselves much closer to the docks than we had been the night before.
On July 28th we travelled to Spooner Creek Basin in Morehead City. I had to purchase a new Auto-Helm as the old one on the boat wasn't working properly. The West Marine store and Wal-Mart were quite close to the creek which was quite convenient.
We are going to spend tonight July 29 and tomorrow night in the Morehead City Yacht Basin Marina so I can complete the installation of the new Auto-Helm.