We pulled into a marina in Surf City NC last night. We could not get to the anchorage we wanted so......it was a tight squeeze but a good exercise in getting the boat into a small safe space. We had some GREAT sushi within walking distance. The dogs got several well deserved walks and we slept really late and watched West Wing in the morning....
I washed the decks with fresh water while Barry worked and we thought we only had a 15 mile day. Oh that it were true. Still it was interesting. We went through the part of the ICW that goes thru Camp LeJune and they had the ICW shut down off and on all day doing LIVE ammo maneuvers shooting from one side of the water at some ancient tanks and trucks. I think they killed them. Yes they looked dead and I promise LOTS of pictures. Also we got to see an OSPREY which is an airplane that can do vertical landings and take=offs. Also choppers were going all over the place....circles and swooping.
I was ready to paint my face green and crawl thru the bush! The coast guard was all over the place too in their little rubber water bullets and then personal carriers and some kind of marine boat with a parabolic microphone. I guess they could hear anything they wanted to hear just by pointing it in a certain direction. The first pic above is what they were killing.
Anyway they held us up just after the last swing bridge for an hour. We dropped anchor and watched all the action. It was actually pretty cool. However when they gave us the go ahead to go thru, our engine would not start or I should say the starter battery was dead and so the engine would not start. We turned on the generator for 15 or so minutes and thank goodness it harged the starter batt enough to start the engine so we were on our way....however the anchorage we wanted to stay was Hammock Bay which is exactly where the marines were bivowaked so we could not stay there tonight and had to go on to Swansboro another 15 miles. We got in an hour before dark and had a hell of a time finding the right anchorage. We set and reset 4 times before we felt it was right but so were the other sailboats sharing this not so great spot. The holding is good here but there is a current and its windy. Also lots of stuff to bump into if the anchor does not hold. SO we are sleeping in the cockpit tonight. Its windy but warm and this way we can hear our anchor alarm because the fancy POS GPS we got from West Marine goes thru a set of batteries every night. We bought it for back up and because its handheld and has an anchor alarm on it and we could be below and hear it........even with the 12v power cord it wont hold a charge......ardh!!! Its going back.
Anyway we threw a steak and some chopped onions and potatos and musrooms on the grill and had a nice dinner. Swansboro is small but the lights from the town are comforting in a way.
Tomorrow is another long day but we stay in one place at a marina for the weekend and maybe even tool around town near Beaufort NC. My computer battery is supposed to be waiting for me there so I should have more pics etc to add to the blog.
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