Back Home in MCYB

We have had wonder adventures; met lots of friends-old and new; seen beautiful sunsets, sunrises, fishes, houses and "stuff". But it will be good to be back in Morehead. I know in a little while, I'll be thinking about traveling again, but I'm going to enjoy this for awhile.

We had calculated how long it would take us to get our anchor up, which means wash all the black slimy mud off. How far we were away from the Onslow Beach Bridge, which is very strict about it's opening times. And when we could get to some shallow places and have enough water. This may not be "rocket science", but it can get complicated!

Shhhh, don't wake Sea Salt! They are leaving later and can sleep awhile longer!

 We cranked the engines at 6:00 and started cleaning off the mud. We had allowed 20 minutes and it only took 15. We pulled out of the anchorage and had 45 minutes to get to the bridge which opens on the hour and half hour. We adjusted our speed until our estimated time of arrival was 5 minutes before the opening. We called the bridge at 6:57 and she told us it would be 3 minutes. Then another boat called and said how long will it take you to get it open. She said it depends on how the bridge "feels this morning". What does that mean? Anyway we got thru with no problems.

A little fog on the waterway. Glad its not bad. We would have a hard time getting to the bridge.

 As we were waiting for the bridge to open we had dolphins swimming around us and we could hear the waves breaking on the Onslow beach. Nothing wrong with that.

 

Onslow Beach Bridge

We knew that Brown's Inlet can be tricky, especially since it has an S shapes path thru it. We had no problems, just followed the markers and calculated 5' MLW. That means we don't want to try and go thru a low tide.

The chart shows that we should go on the right of the G 61A, but we should go on the left of it. As we did.

As we pass thru Camp Lejeune, we could see tanks  and targets set up on the beach side. We had seen an announcement that the waterway was closed for traffic in Camp Lejeune for part of the day Tuesday. Yes, they close the waterway when they are having practice with live ammunition. Well, I know I don't want to go thru then!

I guess this is a target?

On the trip from Mile Hammock, Shay got out our dock lines and decided which went where. I cleaned up the V-berth for Sarah and Travis and I cleaned up the boat. I turned off the anchor light that has been on for over 7 months. It's solar, so we just left it on all the time, even at dock, so we wouldn't have to remember it later. We will turn off the windless and just turn it on as needed. I put up the anchorage book, the chart book, and my bag of stuff we took upstairs every morning on the move. The headsets, handheld GPS, and remote auto-pilot will be charged and put away. It's kind of sad, Escape is changing from a moving home to a stationary home. But only for a while. We will still take short trips to Cape Lookout and other places. We can't sprout roots!

It's Memorial Day Weekend. Thank you to all who have served your country!

There are lots of small pleasure boats on the water today. It's a beautiful day and looks like a great time to be on or in the water!

We are very close to MCYB. This is the waterfront near Morehead City

Shay told me he knew we were getting close hours ago when he could see this bridge in the distance. Finally getting to it!

Lots of boats around us.

Getting closer!

This sailboat was getting bounced around by all the other boats. I told Shay I bet the girl was giving the guy a hard time about bringing her out in this mess!

This was the Turning Basin in Morehead City. Shay said it was a good thing that we were the only boaters out there!

Morehead City waterfront

Looking toward the inlet. The boat on the right is Coast Guard and has the other boat pulled over.

Our Last Bridge!

Here we are!

Our welcoming committee! Thanks Guys!

We got here about 1:30. We traveled about 37nm, at 5.2kts., for 7 hours. We are glad to be home!

Travis and Sarah got here shortly after we did. They went to the beach and the Muskteers went to Floyds for a "Last Meal". We will be going our separate ways soon. It's been fun guys. See you soon.

And the barge guy says, "Let's pick up the sand here, take it outside the inlet, and let it wash back in here!" That's job security!

It's before 10:00 am and the beach is already getting full.!

There are horses on the beach.

And there are peoples on the beach!

Dinghy 101

Travis, getting his fishing gear ready

Taking off.

We will be riding back to Mt Airy with Travis and Sarah. We'll spend time with our family and friends, then see what else the summer has to offer!

I won't be posting as much this summer, but I'll try and post something at least monthly. Even if its just sunset pictures. And posts about our guests this summer.

This is a panoramic of the beach at Shackelford Banks. Its wall-to-wall boat and people.

Heading to Morehead City

Another beautiful start to the day!

Well, we have been having tides and currents to contend with. Now let's add bridges that have to be opened, but only on schedule. Makes for a great planning session. We all discussed it last night after we had dinner on Rocking B. Thanks Margaret and Ken! And thanks Connie for the cookies and for the boat-homemade scones we will enjoy for breakfast.

We decided to take up anchor and get to the Wrightsville Beach Bridge to get an on demand opening before 7:00. So we left the anchorage at 6:05 and headed for the bridge. We are passing thru a no-wake zone and a possible high current zone, so we wanted to allow plenty of time. No problem Escape and Rocking B went thru. Guinevere  and Sea Salt have plans for later. After 7:00 it is on schedule.

Pretty condo along the channel.

Me and my shadow!

Shay liked this boat...

...this one not so much.

Dockside, a favorite restaurant when we have a car.

Not sure what she is?

We then had 5 miles to travel to the next bridge. We were not sure if we could pass under without an opening, but the bridge tender called us and told us to come on thru, the bridge had 25' of water. So we went thru and B waited for the next opening.

Then the fun started. The next bridge is only opened on the hour. We have 17 miles to get to it. We went thru this bridge on the half hour, so we have either 2.5 hours or 3.5 hours to get to the Surf City Bridge. So, do we travel fast and try to make it in 2.5 hours, or do we go slow and do it in 3.5. Remember, we also have currents causing problems in the many small inlets we will pass by. Decisions, decisions, decisions. We talked it over with B and finally decided to go slow. We were passed by several sailboats and thought, "Ha-Ha, we will see you at the bridge!"

We kept checking out time and distance to the bridge and kept slowing down more and more. As we got close to the bridge, we did not see those sailboats, so they made it at the 10:00 opening. Well, we don't know how fast they had to travel to get to that opening.

Let me explain something. Remember, we are in a boat. We do not have any brakes, a park gear, or a shoulder we can pull off on. So when we have to wait for a bridge, it can be a problem. So we try to time it so we have a minimum wait time. And if you have other boats, which you usually do, it makes it even more fun!

We ended up with about 7 boats waiting for the Surf City Bridge 11:00 opening. We were going slow and the other boats kept passing us. One guy asked why we were "holding back". Shay said so there won't be such a traffic jam at the bridge. He said "ok" as he passed us. One of the boats, a trawler, was grounded for a while and had some trouble getting back into the channel.

Finally the bridge opened and we all got thru Sea Salt has caught up with us, so we are the 6 Musketeers again.

Yeah, we have more fluffy clouds today!

We had our boat hauled out here 2 years ago.

We were wondering if this is an indication of cutbacks to the upkeep of the ICW. Are these white poles supposed to replace the green and red markers? They are probably lots cheaper, but not so easy to interpret.

The steps to crabbing are: Grab the pot

Get the pot on the boat

Get the crabs out of the pot

Get the pot ready and get it back in the water

The roof on this house glowed in the sunlight

And this house is still pink!

Military boat picking up snacks?

This shows us entering a shallow area near New River Inlet. You can tell by the number of markers, that its tricky.

We have to follow the markers in the water, not the electronics.

Dredge working in the New River Inlet

 We had no problems. Rocking B had gone thru earlier and told us they didn't see any shallow water, but we were not following right behind them and didn't know exactly where they had gone. We went slow, watched our depths and followed the markers.

Our anchorage for the night, Mile Hammock.

Sea Salt is with us and the others have deserted us. That's ok, we like SS.

Zooming up the ICW...

Zooming in the air.

Rocking B decided to go farther today, so they would have an easier time with some bridges tomorrow. They have a balancing act, of depth and height.

We got here about 1:45. We traveled almost 8 hours, went about 35nm and traveled at 4.6kts. I told you we had to keep slowing down to get to the Surf City Bridge on time.

 

So, we will spend tonight in Mile Hammock and then get into Morehead City Yacht Basin, our home port, tomorrow. We have been away since October 9th last year. It's time to get back, do some maintenance and most important-visit family and friends again! We haven't seem most of them since Christmas!