4/17/15 - After several enjoyable days at River Dunes Marina (mile 173.9) we decided it was time to move on. We had a long day ahead of us so we opted for an early start (early for us) and were on our way by 0830. We were headed out to the coastline and would be passing through five bridges. We motored out Broad Creek and brought out the main and Genoa for a nice sail across the Neuse River into Adams Creek where we motor sailed up to the canal connecting to Core Creek. I spotted my first dolphin in Core Creek but the crew wouldn't believe it since we still seemed to be so far inland.
Core Creek empties into Newport Marsh and this brought us to Morehead City and the town of Beaufort. These two towns face each other across the ICW and have distinctly different personalities. Both are popular stopping off points for cruisers but power boats tend to go to Morehead City and sailors seem to favor Beaufort. We favored neither and passed them both. Once we got past the highway and railroad bridges connecting the two towns we continued on for a while before realizing we had missed our turn and were headed out to the Atlantic Ocean. Oops! The chart at left shows our track as we turned around and headed back to Morehead City. This part of the coast has barrier islands and the ICW runs behind them staying well protected from the ocean. It's still influenced by the ocean tides though and the current is constantly an issue here, either with you or against you. Running with it we made as much as 8.5 knots but against it we slowed to sometimes less than 4. Because of this and the nice sea breeze we brought out the sails again and motor sailed to keep our speed up above 6 knots the entire way. Being able to sail through here kept the day interesting because the view doesn't change all that much throughout this region. As wide as this waterway is through here it's mostly shallow water and the ICW has sand bars on either side of it. At low tide the water drops 4' to 5' and I quickly learned to drive with the depth gauge as my primary instrument. I found I could slowly work my way over to the side until I saw the depth go from 8' to 7' to 6'. We draw 5' so I'd then veer back towards the deeper water to stay in the channel. This method made it easy to pass oncoming boats as this was a busier part of the ICW. Up until today we had for the most part been the only boat on the water. We marked our progress by the bridges that connected the mainland to the beaches. This was also where we saw our first problems with shoaling where the rushing tidewaters filled the channel with sand in many places.
Around 1630 we tried anchoring between two large dunes in about 9' of water. Seemed like a perfect location with dolphins all around and a nice view of the barrier island but as the tide changed we found ourselves in the middle of a ripping current. We quickly pulled up the anchor and moved on. Several miles further on we came to the town of Swansboro (mile 228.0) where we anchored just off the town dock with two other boats. The pictures at left show our first anchorage between the dunes and our second choice in the creek off Swansboro. This was a nice location and the tidal changes kept us swinging in tight circles all night. I woke up at 0300, shortly after the tide had changed, and went up on deck to check things out. While I sat there for 20 minutes I watched the current pick up and slowly bring the boat through a 180 degree turn. The only real drawback about Swansboro was the bar at the end of the bridge that had a live band cranking out tunes until early morning hours. It's fine when you're in there with a cold beer in your hand and your lovely wife on the bar stool beside you but not when you're at anchor trying to get some sleep. Party on Garth.
4/18/15 - We departed Swansboro anchorage and continued south under power with overcast skies and light rain. We have a full enclosure on our cockpit which keeps us out of the wind and rain but the Eisenglass windows at the front don't have windshield wipers and it makes it difficult to see where you're going. Every now and then I'd ask Cheri to wipe them down. We kept this day's run short and stopped at Mile Hammock Bay (mile 244.4), a large basin at Camp Lejeune Marine Corp base. When we arrived there was just one other boat at anchor but towards 1700 it quickly filled with northbound cruisers. The next morning it just as quickly cleared out but because of the continuing rain we decided to stay another day. We spent our time working on our 3D puzzle of St. Basils Cathedral, playing Carcasonne ( a great game we had picked up for this voyage) and relaxing with Bloody Marys and cigars. Also took the time to service the genset, changed the oil and filter. It was nice to just sit back and do pretty much nothing for a day.
4/20/15 - We woke up to a beautiful, clear day. Got underway late, around 1100, because our next anchorage was only 39 miles away and we figured we could be there by 1700. This next stretch of the ICW was through a more populated area with McMansions built along the edge of the waterway. Since this area is a beach resort we also saw some interesting vacation homes with lotsa pinks and blues and turquoises. We also experienced 6' tidal changes and some serious shoaling. In some parts the channel was shifted over considerably to one side with only room for one boat to get through at a time. Temporary channel markers were in place to help show the way. When we arrived at our anchorage (Motts Channel, mile 283.4, chart at left) we found it to be in the middle of a village. Restaurants were built right along the ICW and we felt like we were on display as we cruised through. Of course it was in front of all these observers that I missed my turn for the anchorage. I doubled back and eased into the cut that would take us back behind the barrier island. The guide book and the charts all showed this entire area to have 15' depths so I proceeded without fear. We immediately ran hard aground in the middle of the channel. Everyone watched as we tried to get free. A tow service came out thinking they had some easy money but it was just then that we broke free and backed our way out to the ICW. OK, plan B. The next anchorage was another 12 miles further south, at least two more hours, which would get us there after dark. We pushed on regardless. As the sun got lower in the sky the wind began to pick up and by the time we got to Carolina Beach it was blowing 20 knots. Carolina Beach (mile 295.1) has several anchorages in deep water (30') right in the center of town. We chose an area between two islands and a mooring field. The tide was running strong and the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. The boat wanted to lay at 90 degrees to both and we had a hard time setting the anchor. Because I felt uncomfortable with it I went up on deck throughout the night and tried to verify our location using the lights from buildings on shore. Seemed OK. When we got up in the morning we found the anchor had dragged about 100 yards. Yikes! Luckily there were no other boats around and we were still in deep water. We also found a duck sleeping on the bowsprit, apparently exhausted from standing the anchor watch all night.
So this had been an "Oops" day. Better charts might have made a difference at Motts Channel but with all the shoaling we saw along the way I doubt we would have had any better luck. Our anchoring at Carolina Beach was another matter, something to learn from. We have a new anchor, a Rocna 33, that has a world-wide reputation for holding under any condition. I had become comfortable with this notion and paid the price here. From this point on we made absolutely sure the anchor was set by backing down hard in any condition until we really felt the anchor bite in. In fact at one anchorage in a South Carolina salt marsh it bit in so well the boat came to a screeching halt as though we had slammed on the brakes in a car. Almost threw me overboard. Didn't have to worry about dragging the anchor that night!
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