Sorry for the late post on this. We have been a little busy!

4/25 – We got an early start today to try to beat building winds on the Albemarle Sound (not a good place when there is wind as it is shallow and the waves build very high). The forecast was for South winds at 10 to 15. When we got out on the Sound about 11:00AM, we found the winds were anywhere from WSW to SSW and ranged from 6 to 20 knots. Since it was very hard to trim the boat correctly with these conditions (and we couldn’t point to our destination) we chose to motor sail to the marina. We made it in and to the dock by about 1:30 PM and began the process of moving off the boat and into the condo. Tonight we slept in a real bed (although we don’t do too badly on the boat).

4/24- By this morning, the strong winds from yesterday had died down and we were able to get off the dock very handily (or rather Connie did). We had a pleasant day traveling at times under power and at times under sail. Just as we came to the anchorage for the night, the winds kicked up with gusts to 28 knots so we were happy to put the anchor down and sit back. We are at the bottom of the Alligator River with almost no TV, no phone, but more importantly - no jets flying overhead. Many times there are Navy jets over this area and they are very loud. Tomorrow we will head for Albemarle Plantation and home.

4/23 – After a lazy start this morning, we sailed up the Nuese River to Broad Creek and worked our way back to Jerry and Donna’s home. Jerry guided us into his docking area assuring Connie that there was indeed deep enough (showing only 5’) and she managed to get the boat into a very narrow opening onto the dock, whew. A very short day as it was 1pm. We also found other cruisers we knew there – Jim and Bentley on Salty Paws were spending a few days here as well. We spent the afternoon catching up and touring Donna and Jerry’s beautiful house. Later we headed into Oriental for a very nice dinner.

4/22 – We got an early start this morning since we wanted to cover quite a lot of ground. We almost touched the ground a couple of times in some shallow spots today, but we missed them somehow. As we traveled the Bogue Sound towards Morehead City, the wind and the current were right on the nose, slowing our progress a lot. We turned the corner at Morehead City and headed north about 1 PM. As we neared the Nuese River, we found the winds were 20 knots out of the northeast and there were rain showers approaching. At that point we pulled off into an anchorage at Cedar Creek and were happy to have the day over. Shortly after we anchored, our friends on Bluejacket (Donna and Jerry) called and asked if we were going to stop in Oriental to see them. We were delighted to hear from them and said of course we would.

4/21 – We got an early start this morning and then had to wait 20 minutes for each of the Wrightsville Beach and Figure 8 swing bridges. After that we thought we would miss the opening of the Surf City Bridge two hours away, so we took our time. After about an hour, we realized the current was with us and we still might make the bridge so we pushed down the throttle. Lo and behold we not only made the opening, we caught up to a tug and barge (all bridges open on demand for commercial traffic) and got through the bridge early. Then it was on to Mile Hammock Bay on the grounds of Camp LeJuene. We got there about 3 PM and set the anchor. Shortly after the rain came so we were very happy to be set. We didn’t see much activity from the Marines tonight, but we heard a lot of heavy guns firing.