Ocracoke, Morehead City, Cape Lookout and back to Morehead City

We have been watching the weather closely, since Beryl; a tropical depression is heading our way. We have been tracking him and looking at the forecast and have decided to leave for Ocracoke on Tuesday May 29^th. We hope to get a space at the Parks Service Dock and spend maybe a week or two just relaxing at one of our favorite places. We fell in love with Ocracoke long before we starting boating and it continues to be a favorite place to go. We were very disappointed that we didn’t get to spend any time there last year and hope to make up for it this year.

The weather was calling for strong winds during the week and we hope this will discourage some boaters from attending the Ocrafolk Music Festival this weekend. We’re going over a few days early and hope to get a spot at either the Parks Dock or Anchorage Inn. Who knows, we may even check our “Bruiser 2012” and see how he holds in Silver Lake.

We left the earliest we have for any trip, 5:45 so we could get there early. You know what they say about the “early bird catching the worm” and we wanted to get a spot on the docks. This was not our best “crossing”. It was rainy, choppy, and we had white caps. Not the best of conditions.



Dark clouds



Getting closer



And here's the rain



You can barely see the lighthouse in the distance, but we know its Ocracoke.

You can see Morehead City, where we started and then Ocracoke, where we stayed. We left Morehead and went north to the Neuse and then east to Ocracoke. Follow the white dots to see a very rough plot of our trip.



We were anchored in Silver Lake near the docks at the lower corner of the lake, just below the "13".

See all the shallow water? You have got to pay attention to the markers or you will be in big trouble.

Ferry docks

 We got to Silver Lake around 2 pm. When we arrived the wind was blowing about 20 kts and forecast for much faster in the next few days.  We checked out the Park Service Docks on the way by and they were full. We heard on the VHF radio that the Anchorage Inn did not have any place big enough for us so we started looking at the anchorage.

We have talked before, about how different things look from a 26’ boat and a 49’ boat. When we were in Silver Lake in “Miss Lauren” it looked like there was lots of room to maneuver and anchor. Well, looking at it from the flybridge of “Escape” made it look lots smaller and tight. Of course, there were lots of boats in the anchorage. It looks like everyone had the same idea, get there early and get a spot. Remember “the early bird gets the worm”, and in this case the worm, was a spot at the dock or anchorage.

We talked about what to do and Shay even said something about going back to South River and just hanging out instead of staying here. In the end we decided to stay and try out the new bigger anchor. After all, that’s why we got him, to use, not just to look pretty on the bow.

Our view of the lighthouse

We found a place in the southeast corner of Silver Lake, where we could anchor with reduced scope. We had just put on a new 177lb anchor and thought that it would hold our DeFever 49 CPMY with the reduced scope.  We only had room for 50’. We got anchored and decided to go to land and see if we could find a dock we could use. We started at the Parks Service Docks and found out that no one was leaving. Most of them had come over for Memorial Day weekend and planned on staying thru the Festival. We walked to a realty agency to see if any of their homes had docks for rent but had no luck. We also called and check several places around the lake and had no luck.

We got caught in a shower and got soaking wet on the way back to the boat. Of course, we had left things open and had a wet mess inside. We cleaned up the water, got out of our wet clothes and settled down to see what was next.

Things look better after the storm passed by.

The rainbow after the rain

They wind was up that afternoon, evening, and night. We were concerned and Shay stayed up late to keep an eye on things. He got up a lot during the night to check and make sure things were holding.

We woke up to wind and rain. It rained all morning and Shay took a nap and told me if it stopped raining to let him know and we would put the dinghy up. It stopped raining about 2 pm and we put the dinghy up. We talked about moving the boat since boats around us were dragging, but it’s not something you want to do in these conditions.

About 5:00 pm, thank goodness it was daylight, the wind got up and lots of boats started dragging. A small sailboat was dragging toward a sailboat near us. He had put out an anchor buoy and we were concerned that the dragging boat would catch on his line and pull up his anchor and cause even more problems.  He put out more line so he could stay away from the dragging boat but this reduced our swing room and finally we started slowly dragging toward docks that were behind us.  The small sailboat finally stopped dragging but it was close to us and that meant we had even less room to maneuver. We had been using the engines to keep us from pulling too hard on the anchor but realized we were loosing the battle. It was time to move.

Shay manned the flybridge while I went down to the anchor. I kept directing him which way to go so we could pull up the anchor as easy as possible. He had his hands full --bringing up the anchor, keeping away from the docks, and staying clear of the other boats. Finally I gave him our signal that the anchor was off the bottom and he started to leave. Just then he heard a loud crash and knew we had hit the dock behind us. He couldn’t leave the helm to check for damage, we had to get anchored again. We moved to the other side of Silver Lake, close behind the ferries. The ferries had stopped running because of the wind so we were ok. He checked the boat for damage and saw that we were ok. There were some pieces of wood from the dock, but not enough to do any real damage. We felt like we came out pretty good. We talked to other boaters about what was going on and one boater said the winds were 50 mph! No wonder “Bruiser 2012” didn’t hold. If we had been able to put out enough line we would have been ok but it was too much wind for the amount of line we could put out. The forecast was for strong winds all thru the night, so we set the alarm for every hour. We stayed put and were glad for that night to end.

Shay woke me up at 6:30 and said we were leaving. He did not want to stay in these conditions any longer. The trip was a little bumpy at first, but nothing we couldn’t handle. We talked about our experience and decided we would not take the boat back to Ocracoke during a busy time like the festival or holidays. They just don’t have enough room for us to dock or anchor and it’s not worth it. If we want to go over during a busy time, we’ll get reservations at Anchorage Inn docks or stay in a hotel. That would probably be less expensive when you think about fuel and dockage. Remember, boating “ain’t cheap”.

We talked about spending the night in South River but decided to come back to MCYB, since the wind was supposed to be even stronger tomorrow and we wouldn’t want to dock then.

We knew docking would be a challenge, since we were going to a different dock and we didn’t have any lines on it. Well, the wind was not bad and we went in at high tide, so I did OK. Yes, it sounds like I am bragging and I am a little. I was able to get the lines over the pilings and get us secured. I told Shay not to expect that every time. That was just luck. Remember, we are still very new at docking and so many things can go wrong. High winds can blow you into the dock or away from the pilings, inexperienced help (me) can have trouble with the lines, or a meteorite could hit us. OK the last one is very unlikely, but the first ones do really happen.

We called our friends, George and Pam, from Mount Airy and told them we were back at our dock. We told them they were still welcome to come for the weekend, but we would not be at Ocracoke. They decided to come and visit anyway. We talked about taking a ferry and spending the day at the festival, but decided we’d just spend a relaxing day around Morehead City. They got to the boat late Friday night; we sat around and talked for a while then settled in.

We had parfaits for breakfast the next morning and decide to walk around town. We ate lunch at the Sanitary Restaurant and came back to the boat for a nap. We had Shay’s grilled chicken, salad, and baked beans for supper. We were all stuffed but did manage to enjoy key lime pie for dessert.

The next morning they got packed up, we ate lunch at Cox Family Restaurant and George and Pam started back home. We enjoyed having them visit and hope they come back again soon.

Our friends on “Rocking B”, Ken and Margaret are making a 3 day crossing from Bahamas to Morehead City and should get here June 4^th. We have been tracking them and they are making great time. They are making a long trip in just 3 days. They got here around 2 pm and we were all so excited.


Rocking B is back. Margaret, Ken, and Chris-- their crew.

Do ya think Margaret is glad to be back at the dock? This is after a 3 day trip from Bahamas to Morehead City. Great job! Welcome back! We missed you!

They were tired and hungry and wanted to go to Ionnies to eat. We took them and their “crew”-- Chris and had a great time. They met Chris while in the islands. He is single handing (traveling alone) on a boat the same size as “Rocking B”. We talked about how much trouble we have doing things with 2 people on board, how difficult is it with only one? Well, he makes it work and loves the travels. He brought his boat back to the states, and then flew back to Bahamas to travel with “Rocking B”.

We had a big dock party the next night. Escape, Rocking B, Seaveyor, Maximum Exposure, Bad Bunny and others and had a great time. It was fun to get together with all the boaters and celebrate our lifestyle.

Margaret and Ken---back from the Bahamas.

Shay and Elizabeth---back from Ocracoke

Margaret and Ken left early the next morning, heading for Baltimore. Shay took Chris to New Bern to catch a plane to start his trip to his final destination Columbia, South America. They tried to talk us into going up with them, but we have plans to go back to Mount Airy for a visit and don’t have time. We promised we visit them by boat or car. We look forward to spending more time with them and they have told us they are going back to Bahamas this fall, so we’ll see…

Shay has started working on our teak. We washed it, then sanded it in places, and stained it in places. We will sand it all and give it a coat of clear to protect it.

 

Shay working on the teak.

We left for Cape Lookout on Friday. This is another place we didn’t get to visit last year and it is another of our favorite places. We had bought fishing license and we are ready to start fishing.



This is Shay "fishing".

This is Shay "catching" fish. There is a big difference in "fishing" and "catching" fish.

And this is me "catching" fish. Do I look happy or what? This was so much fun.

OH MY GOSH! It was so exciting to hear the rod when we got a fish on the line! Shay brought in our first catch. It was a Spanish mackerel. We were trying to decide if it was big enough to keep and it got off the hook. Well, that made it easy to decide. I got to bring in the next one and it was a keeper! At least 18” and enough for us a meal. Shay put him on ice and we kept on to the Cape. I called Daddy, Jason, Travis, Lauren, and others to brag about my catch. I asked daddy if he was proud of me and he said “yes”. He has fished a lot and keeps saying he is going to get started again. We’ll see.

It is still beautiful. There are several boats, but still plenty of room. No worries like Silver Lake. We had no problems getting anchored.


Cape Lookout Lighthouse

 

Cape Lookout from space




Shay got the fish cleaned and we relaxed for a while. We saw several big turtles while coming in and while we were there. Of course, no pictures since they only stay up for a second and then go back underwater.



Looking at the anchorage

Putting out the new "snubber"

Beautiful

He gets all the yuckie jobs!

This will be sooooo delicious.

Washday at the Cape

We didn't have any rain, but we had the rainbow.

Beautiful sunset



The fish was delicious! We had grilled fish, salad and a foil pack of potatoes, carrots, onions and peppers with butter and seasonings. The food was great, the scenery great, and the company wasn’t so bad either. Tomorrow is Shay’s 62^nd birthday and I guess this may be his birthday dinner. Does count if he has to clean the fish and then grill them? I say yes. So Happy Birthday meal.  Oh, we had key lime pie for dessert and you know he loves that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAY!

After breakfast, we decided to take a dinghy ride. First we explored the anchorage to see scout out other places to anchor. Then we went for a long walk on the island. We got attacked by mosquitoes on the way across the grassy area, but they didn’t bother us once we got to the sandy beach. There were lots of fishermen and we bragged about catching our dinner the night before. In case you haven’t figured it out, there is a big difference in fishing and catching fish. We caught fish last night, that won’t always be the case.

We visited several boats in the anchorage, no we didn’t know all of them, but we stopped to talk anyway. Remember, Shay has never met a stranger. We got invited on for drinks at one boat, but it was a little too early. Another boater told us to come back in an hour for grilled chicken. It looked like mostly legs so I’ll past that up. We did actually go on “Tide Hiker”. Dee-dee and Bob are new boaters. They bought their boat in March and are learning a lot. Dee-dee has “signed on” for a year and then she will decide if she wants to stay on the boat longer. She told me she has decided she will stay on longer than a year but hasn’t told him yet. I guess she’s going to keep him guessing. That’s ok.

We had a quiet night. This is the way boating should be. Calm waters, gentle breeze, beautiful location, and a great boat. Unfortunately, it’s not always that way but we’ll enjoy it when we have it.

We decided to take pictures of “Escape” at the lighthouse. It’s not easy to get the boat and lighthouse in the shot at the same time and have everything in focus, when you’re taking pictures from a dinghy in the water.

"Escape" at the lighthouse

We had planned to go to the lighthouse and walk around, but Shay got side-tracked and we started visiting boats again. So, after visiting we went back to the boat and got ready to head back to our slip.

Of course, we put the lines back in the water and started fishing as soon as we could. And we were lucky again. We caught two Spanish mackerel, 2 tinny tuna, and 2 blues. We weren’t sure about the tinny tuna so we called Dwayne, our fishing expert, and asked him. He said they were bloody fish and most people didn’t mess with them. Well, we got rid of them cause we didn’t want the mess. The other fish were too small except for a mackerel. So we put him on ice and headed on in.

We had no problems docking, which was good since the marina people were busy with boats in the Big Rock fishing tournament. We washed the boat to get rid of the salt water and then Shay cleaned the fish while I fixed the sides. This fish wasn’t as big as the first one, but we still had enough for us. By my calculations, we have paid for our fishing license. Not bad for a weekend trip. We had another great meal.



Back at MCYB. We followed the magenta line to get back. That is the Intercoastal Waterway or ICW.

We are back at the dock and back to working on projects. Shay made new dock lines and we used shrink-wrap to mark the lengths, so it will be easier to grab a line the correct length. Shay and a fiberglass guy are working on the back deck. We have spots that crack when you walk on them and that indicates “delamination” or separation of the fiberglass from the deck. So they are drilling holes in the deck and putting in epoxy to adhere the fiberglass to the deck. Hope this fixes it, cause it “ain’t cheap”.  



Working on the deck.



Pay attention so you can do it yourself next time.

Shay "marking" the lines.

We have plans to go back to Mount Airy this weekend and visit. We will spend a few nights with my dad and then a few with Shay’s mom. I am cooking lunch on Friday for us, my dad, and Chelle and Marty.

 


 

Time at Morehead City

Well, as I previously posted, we are back in Morehead City. We got back to NC just in time to watch Lauren's Dance Company Spring Dance Showcase. We drove down to UNCW, watched the showcase, and ate a late dinner with her. We really enjoyed the showcase.
The next morning we headed back to Mount Airy. Shay's mother has surgery tomorrow and we want to be there. Remember, she was attacked by dogs March 1st and this is her second surgery. We all thought she would spend 4 or 5 days in the hospital but after surgery the doctor told her she could go home. He originally told she could not put any weight on that leg for 4 or 5 days and if she couldn't do that at home, she could stay in the hospital. Well, he finished surgery, he said she could go home. So we went back to Mount Airy and stayed with her for two weeks.

While we were there, we got together with family and friends. A bunch of us got together at... yes Chile Rojo. We have to eat there when we are home. We met Chelle and Marty at Claytor Lake and spent the day with daddy. We ate Mexican there too. Jenny and I cooked for the Glass clan. We all enjoyed being together at Jean's. We went to eat with Chelle and Marty to celebrate their one year anniversary. Of course, we wish them years and years of happiness and love. We spent 2 weeks in Mount Airy and them came back to the boat.

Of course, Shay has more projects for this year. We replaced the door glides for the door going up to the flybridge. They were in bad shape when we bought the boat but last year on the way south, a fellow boater stepped on one and really messed it up. Shay found the perfect material and after a little "remodeling" it worked great.



On they way back we stopped in Raleigh and bought an even bigger anchor. Remember, we bought "Bruiser" last year while we were in Vero and have been very pleased with the 110 pound anchor. Well, last fall, we found out a guy had a good deal on an even bigger anchor so we got one. This one weighs 180 pounds. Do ya think that will hold us? We will need to have modifications done to the bow roller, which supports the anchor. We took it off and took it to a guy to modify. When we get it back we'll put it back together and see how it works.


"Bruiser" 2012

Now, how do I get this one off and the other on up here?

OK, the old one is off, now to get it on the dock and the new one on.

We went back to Mount Airy, to spend the weekend for Mother's Day. Shay's family got together and had a cookout on Saturday. We all had a great time. On Sunday Chelle, Marty, Michael, Ethan, Shay and I went to Daddy's. We all got stuffed on chicken and goodies. I made a strawberry triffle which was a big hit. Ethan ate so much of it that he told his mom, she could not make it cause he's eat too much if he had it at his house. Today is Sarah's 21st birthday, and she is leaving New Orleans for a cruise. We called and sang Happy Birthday to her and wished her a safe trip.

We took Jean back to the doctor on Monday and he was pleased with her leg. He told her she can drive and as soon as we got home, we drove to the store. We all got together at her house for a big pot of soup. It has been raining and a soup sounded good. We came back to Morehead City on Tuesday, ready to work on projects.

I was always bragging about the sunsets in Marathon, but this is a fantastic one right here in Morehead City.

We got the bow roller and anchor on and they look great. That big old anchor doesn't look big at all. Dwayne, from Seaveyor, told Shay he needs to get an even bigger one next time. I said no, we're not upgrading anchors every year. This one is big enough.

Shay has spend hours and hours on line researching dock lines. He didn't know if he wanted to buy them ready made or buy the line and make his own. He finally decided to buy the line and put the eye or loop on the end himself. That way we can get the line we want with the size eye we need. The problem with some lines is that the eye is too small to go over our cleats. So these will be just what we want. He is working on the lines now and the ones he has finished look good.

He's also got 12 volt power outlets to add to the boat. We have a few, but he wants to add one at the computer desk, one in the front berth, another in our bedroom, one in the galley, one in the salon, and another on the flybridge.

We have plans to go to Ocracoke the first weekend in June for the Ocrafolk Festival. There will be music, crafts, food and fun. We have been to the festival before and really enjoyed the music. George and Pam will be coming down from Mount Airy to meet us there for the weekend. We will probably spent 2 weeks there and we are not sure where we will go then. Our slip at the Yacht Basin is rented until June and if they want to stay longer, we might go to Cape Lookout for a while. We didn't get there last year and have really missed it.

Wiightsville Beach to Oriental... Well we'll know when we get there

4-7-2012

We left Barefoot Landing early in the morning, around 6:30. It was a cold 36 degrees. We had a very foggy trip until we passed the Little River Swing Bridge. After that it was a beautiful day. We kept hearing about logs in Snow’s Cut at Carolina Beach, ahead of us but never saw them. Hey, maybe they floated “harmless out to sea”.

Foggy to the back



Foggy to the front. You may not believe it but there are two bridges in that fog. One is a low bridge that will have to open and the other is a tall one about 65 feet tall. Can you see them? We can't either, yet.

These nice looking boats will charge to take you out in the ocean and left you loose lots of money. Aren’t they nice?

We are back in North Carolina now. It’s been several months since we were here and even though we had a great time in the Keyes this winter, its good to be closer to family and friends.

We're not in Myrtle Beach with the huge houses anymore.



What happened to this boat?

We had done lots of planning the night before so we would be in the Cape Fear River at the correct time. Why does it matter? Well, if you get there when the wind and the current are moving in opposite directions, the water is very rough. We wanted them to be going in the same direction so we did all kinds of calculations to let us know when weshould be there. We timed it just right. Even though we were going against the current and had to use more power to do it, we timed it just right, so the trip was not as rough as it might have been.

We had been going 7 kts at 1800 rpms before we got to the Cape Fear and when we got in the wind and current we slowed to 3.8 kts. We were not going very fast and we were running 1800 rpm on both engines. We were going very slow and using lots of fuel to do it. When the current turned, we started doing 9 kts with the same rpms. It would be great if we could always travel with the current, but we can’t so we do the best we can.

Cape Fear Inlet. Looks calm today.

Bald Head Lighthouse

Ferry from Southport to Bald Head Island

We got the Carolina Beach Inlet about 3 pm and the temperature was 63 degrees. Nice day for being on the water.

Carolina Beach near the inlet

Wrightsville Beach Inlet

We got to Wrightsville Beach anchorage about 3:30. There were only a few boats so we looked around and picked out our anchorage. We were expecting windy conditions but it was calm.

Chart book showing our anchorage at Wrightsville Beach

A beautiful sunset at Wrightsville Beach.

We thought this sailboat looked like it had ran into a bridge and bent the masts. That would be bad.

Pirate boat at Wrightsville Beach

Lauren came and picked us up and we went to her dorm to see how she had decorated it. Well, when we got there she had me a surprise. She had baked me a cake and let me tell you---- it was delicious. She knew I liked coconut and looked for recipes with coconut in them. She saw one with coconut in the cake and frosting that had a raspberry filling and decided to try that. She didn’t have any cake pans, so she baked it in a saucepan, a layer at a time. She said she didn’t spray the pan when she baked the first one, so it didn’t come out very easy. Not to worry, she used that one as a practice layer to fill and ice. The finished cake was beautiful and delicious. She even toasted coconut to put on the icing. I had tasted raspberry filled cake before and forgot how good it is. Shay said it was the best cake he had ever eaten. That’s saying a lot because he’s never turns down a piece of cake. We went out to eat and came back to Lauren’s to have dessert. Of course, she lit a candle and they sang to me.

If you know Lauren, you know she is not a baker or a cake lover so that made this cake even more special. When she was little and had birthday cake, she might take one bite and that was it. Later we started having cheesecake or Oreo cookie cake for her birthday.

We had lunch with her on Easter Sunday. Then we went around to marinas. We are looking at the current and how difficult it will be to get in and out for us and other boats. We found a slip at Dockside which is right downtown Wrightsville Beach, but it is near the fuel dock and other boats will be going in and out. We sat there and watched the comings and goings and there were a lot of young drivers and there was a lot of drinking going on, so we decided to pass it up.

We are calling different marinas up the coast to see where we can get a good rate for a month. Our slip at MCYB is rented until June and we don’t want to make them move. If we can find a good deal we can make money even though we have to pay for a place to stay. We called from Southport to the Oriental area. We found some good rates, but after looking at how far out of our way we would have to travel, we decided to stay in Oriental. We are familiar with the area and can use that as a staging area for our next trip.

We didn’t get to see Lauren on Monday because she had classes and then dance practice. Her showcase is this weekend and she has practice from 7 until… every night this week. I wish we had gotten here earlier in the week, when she was out for Easter break and we could have spent more time with her.

Tuesday we stole her car and took ours to Oriental to leave. We have decided to stay there for about a month. The Ocracoke Festival is the first weekend in June. We can stay at Oriental for 4 or 5 weeks then go to Ocracoke and be there for the festival. We invited Chelle and Marty to come but she teaches class that weekend so they can’t. We called George and Pam and told them if they want to come we will give them the “Honeymoon Suite”. George is checking with Pam to see if she has any vacation she can take then. Then we called Betty and David and asked if they would like to come down. Betty sounded really excited and said she’d talk to David and let us know.

We left 4-11-2012 at 6:30. We knew if we got to the bridge before 7 am we could request an opening, so that was the plan.  We got thru the bridge with no trouble. We moved to the edge of the channel to let a boat pass, and went aground at 6:55. We hit what must have been a sandbar. With the tide falling we didn’t want to stay on it long, so we put it in reverse and easily backed off. See what you get when you try to do a good deed? Grounded. Well, it’s the first time we’ve gone aground and it was easy to get off so…

We had a windy day and ran against the current all day. We were also trying to get to a bridge opening so we were keeping a close eye on time and distance. We had it timed just right; we only had to wait a few minutes. Maybe we’re getting the hang of this.

Have the aliens landed? We never know what we'll see along the waterway.

I call it the "Pepto Bismol" house. It's a beautiful place with palm trees, dolphins on the side, and a great looking dock. BUT IT'S UGLY! Was there a 75% off sale on paint? Who knows?

We followed several boats all day long and were concerned that they would be going to Mile Hammock also. We were pleased that it was empty when we pulled in. We checked out the depths and dropped our anchor about 12:30. We hope there won’t be may other boats here tonight. It can get crowded, remember last fall? 

Helicopters around Mile Hammock

 

The Marines at Camp Lejeune use this area for maneuvers and they can force boats to leave the area. We have been lucky and have never been ran out.

We got here about 2 pm. We were pleasantly surprized since there were no other boats anchored. We ate lunch--- vegetable beef soup from the crockpot. We sat down to work on taxes and got totally upset. We had stopped at Walmart yesterday and got Turbo Tax. When Shay started using it he realized it was for 2009. Why would they still have it from 2009? Shay called the store and they told him he should be able to return it at another store. But we are anchored out and need to get them done. We called Travis and he mailed his disk to Oriental to get there Friday. We got our papers together and hope the postal service is on time.

We had several helicopters fly over. That’s a common thing at Mile Hammock, since its part of Camp Lejeune. We heard them in the distance all night long but they were not as noisy as they have been in the past.

Sunset at Mile Hammock

Sunrise the next morning

It’s cold this morning. Its 41 degrees outside and 58 degrees in our bedroom. We turned on the heat to get the chill off. It’s cold enough that we are going to drive inside part of the way. We were planning on leaving at 6:00 but thought it was still too dark to be able to see, so we waited a few minutes. When we started taking up the chain, it was covered in mud. It took longer to get it clean than we expected, so we were later getting going than we wanted. We left at 6:30 and the bridge opens on the hour and half hour. So…we had to rush to get to the next bridge opening.

Tower on the Marine base

Would this sign bother you? We have been thru this area several times and so far the lights have not been flashing. That's good. Seriously, sometimes an area of the waterway is shutdown and they are shooting real ammo.

Swanboro is a pretty town. We are getting really close to Morehead City.

I thought a good caption for this was "I just want a little place on the water". That works.

You may not be able to tell, but this sailboat is grounded. It was very near Bogue Inlet. The waterway changes constantly in this area. Someone didn't pay attention to the markers.

This is looking out at Bogue Inlet. It's not an easy inlet. 

I thought this was a beautiful place on the water. I like the spiral staircase, the rock walls, and the windows.

Well, our plan was to go to Oriental and spend a month. We were within sight of the Atlantic Beach Bridge when Shay called MCYB and asked if they had a slip we could stay in and them take the money from our slip for a month. They said ok, so we changed our plans and decided to stay in Morehead City.

One of the projects for this season is to fix the deck floors and there is a guy near here that can do that. If you are working on projects, Morehead City is a good place to be.

We were talking about our first trip north last year. We remember traveling here with Refuge and them being boarded by the Coast Guard. We were concerned that we might be, but they were gone when we got there. We talked about how concerned we were last year thinking about docking the boat since we had so little experience. And we are still concerned this year. We have not put the boat in a slip since we were at MCYB last year. Remember, we anchor or moor most of the time. The two times we were at marinas, we were at a side dock and not in a slip. We counted the number of times we’ve been on a side dock and it was 5--- counting a fuel barge in Miami, twice at Marathon to get water, and 2 marinas.

So you can see we are still very inexperienced at going into a slip. Think of parking a bus in a garage and not having breaks, just moving forwards and backwards until you are in place. There are NO brakes on a boat to stop you when you are getting ready to hit something.

We got here around 12:30 and got into the slip with no problems, except I couldn’t get the line over the top of the piling. I don’t know why I would have trouble… I was just trying to get a loop over a telephone pole standing in the water. Does that sound hard? Oh, I forgot to tell you that the pole is 7 feet taller than I am.

We are in the little square area near the "U". I forgot to mark the place on the chartbook. Look how crooked the "road" is to get to the marina. We went under the bridge and called the dockmaster and told him we were just around the corner. The wind had picked up and we were worried, but Captain Shay did ok again.

Captain Shay makes us secure.

We have plans to go to Lauren's dance showcase this weekend at UNCW. Then we are going back to Mount Airy to visit family and friends. Don't worry, we will be back to the boat soon and we are leaving it in good hands.