Feb 27 2021 Morehead City to Wilmington NC

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Another early morning on Second Star with the theme for today being get south.  The next suitable anchorage is a very full day of motoring down the coast.  The morning is cool and the anchor is up before the sun has peaked over the horizon.  Coffee and breakfast will happen while underway.  


The anchor chain brings up a giant mussel shell from the sea bed of this anchorage in the industrial zone of Morehead City.  Maybe in the past shellfish this big were common, but we're thinking it's more unusual these days.

The current is with us, adding 2 knots of boat speed as the tide fills the sounds behind the Carolina islands.  The tide will switch against us and back to helping us multiple times today.   

There is plenty of water depth, but just outside the narrow channel the water is very thin, and often very shallow spots crop up in unexpected places.  Every storm shifts the sands around, so the deep water is sometimes not where the chart suggests it will be, and the channel is not clearly marked.  It takes full focus to navigate even what looks like a straight course.  Frequent cross currents and power boat wakes sweep us port or starboard of our intended course.  Occasionally there is quick corrective action when we find ourselves getting outside the deep water. Its exhausting, so we try to switch off who is at the helm.  We encountered several boats that had run aground & were waiting for high tide to lift them so they could move on.

A few miles farther south the scenic  sand dunes start to show up

We sailed through  a live fire practice range at Camp LeJeune.  
The sign says "STOP DO NOT PROCEED    Live Firing in progress when flashing Tune to AM 530"    I made very sure the light was not flashing!  The rusting remnants of old army vehicles could be seen laying in the marsh. Maybe they're used as targets.

It's laundry day on Second Star!  It's nice to have clean clothes, but the downside is you end up staring at your socks all day as it dries!

In the afternoon we passed mile after mile of what I think of as very large beach vacation homes. We saw one (a smaller one!) we had rented about 10 years ago for a vacation with all our kids and their then significant others.

There were dozens of folks out in their center console boats fishing & joy riding. There were girls in bikinis.  We saw lots of groups sitting on docks sharing a meal or a beer, not socially distanced, but it reminded me of how much fun it was back when we could gather with friends.

After a 75 mile day we have stopped for the night at Middle Sound, a cut through the marsh that has more boat traffic than I'd like, but the sun is setting and hopefully it will be quiet once everyone goes home.  The red wing blackbirds are singing in the marsh, one of my favorites to listen to.

Fabulous moon reflecting on the marsh!

We'd like to say thank you to all of the friends who are so generous to help us out & support our trip. They are watching our house, picking up our mail, bee-bee sitting our bee hives, watering houseplants, collecting Amazon packages that we will pick up once we get to Florida,  commenting on the blog, cheering us on, and sharing their own experiences of Going South.  Having a wonderful time, really do wish you were here!

Comments

Jane said…
That picture is amazing! One of the many benefits of owning the world around you!
February 28, 2021 at 1:03 PM
Lynn and Ed said…
That was a really long day on the ICW at this time of year with shorter days and so many opening bridges. That is a difficult section. Your persistence paid off.
March 1, 2021 at 8:06 AM
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