Impulse Cruising Again

After grabbing a breakfast sandwich at Hardee’s, we left the dock and headed north at 7:00. The morning was muggy and dewy, and we were very warm since what breeze there was came from behind. Across the marshes we could see the north end of Topsail Island, which is a very long and narrow barrier island. Four military vessels approached us, but were only stopping for fuel – phew! Bill was worried they were going to announce that the ICW was closed for drills at Camp LeJeune, which does happen occasionally and all boat traffic comes to a halt. We were pretty much alone other than two small barges coming towards us, barely floating under their loads of oyster shells. Our keel did bump the bottom at one point – fortunately Bill had slowed since he saw the depth was decreasing, even though we were in the channel. The boat sort of blew off the lump as he maneuvered a bit with the engine. We had to wait awhile for the Onslow Swing Bridge, which only opens every half hour – no way to time our arrival since we haven’t figured out how to adjust for the currents. Rusted and beat-up tanks were visible at one point– guess they were used for target practice. We saw many helicopters and Osprey aircraft during the day. The air changed and was more comfortable as the day went on, but the winds picked up off of the ocean – 20-25 knots! Long sleeves were in order since clouds hid the sun much of the time. It is like we passed into another climate! The photo shows a mile marker – these start appearing in North Carolina and correspond to the mileage shown on the charts of the ICW beginning with mile 0 in Portsmouth, Virginia. It certainly would be nice if they were present every now and then in SC, GA, and FL! We stopped today in Beaufort, NC (that is “bow-fort”) and it is near mile marker 205. So we are well past halfway and are closing in on the Chesapeake. I think we may be in Rock Hall by the end of May at this rate! When checking in at the Beaufort Docks each boat is given some wooden nickels, and these are good for free beers at the Dock House. Those, along with a 10% off coupon and wings on the menu convinced us to visit for dinner. Nachos and fries filled out our choices. Live music in the park – not very pleasing to the ears though, so we went back to the boat to rest up for a busy day tomorrow!

61 miles, 9.25 hours