We finally broke away from the dock and headed back
into the ICW on Thursday. We chugged down Adams Creek to Morehead City and
turned right, instead of left, after clearing the bridges. This marked the
entrance into new cruising grounds for us, as we have never been South on the
ICW between NC and Florida. Thursday night we spent on the hood in Spooner
Creek where condos are rising at the site of the old marina. There are large
homes with big sportfishing boats docked in front surrounding this basin. The
sportfisher’s are active and left about 0530. This gave us the opportunity to
be awake and ready to leave at sunrise on Friday. We had the waterway mostly to
ourselves as we bucked 28 knot winds from the Southeast in Bogue Sound. Thank
goodness for the protection of the dodger as the waves were breaking over the
bow and would have soaked us had it not been for the wind and splash protection
of the dodger. By 1030 we were in a protected section of the waterway, waiting
for the Navy to stop lobbing shells across the ICW as it passes through Camp
Lajune. The photo above shows the signage that one should NOT ignore. Passage
through this section was interesting as mobile missile launchers, tanks and
camouflaged boats full of armed marines were disguised in the sand dunes. We
had an hour to pass through before shelling resumed, so we did as advised by
the Navy Safety Patrol Boat and “made out best time.”
into the ICW on Thursday. We chugged down Adams Creek to Morehead City and
turned right, instead of left, after clearing the bridges. This marked the
entrance into new cruising grounds for us, as we have never been South on the
ICW between NC and Florida. Thursday night we spent on the hood in Spooner
Creek where condos are rising at the site of the old marina. There are large
homes with big sportfishing boats docked in front surrounding this basin. The
sportfisher’s are active and left about 0530. This gave us the opportunity to
be awake and ready to leave at sunrise on Friday. We had the waterway mostly to
ourselves as we bucked 28 knot winds from the Southeast in Bogue Sound. Thank
goodness for the protection of the dodger as the waves were breaking over the
bow and would have soaked us had it not been for the wind and splash protection
of the dodger. By 1030 we were in a protected section of the waterway, waiting
for the Navy to stop lobbing shells across the ICW as it passes through Camp
Lajune. The photo above shows the signage that one should NOT ignore. Passage
through this section was interesting as mobile missile launchers, tanks and
camouflaged boats full of armed marines were disguised in the sand dunes. We
had an hour to pass through before shelling resumed, so we did as advised by
the Navy Safety Patrol Boat and “made out best time.”
By 1300 we were at Mile Hammock Bay, a basin dredged
for the Marines where anchoring is allowed. There were four other boats and we
had plenty of room to set the hook. This proved to be a challenge as we dragged
anchor on our first three tries with our CQR in 14 feet of water with 21 knots
of wind. One of the other boats hailed us and recommended setting the Bruce
(our spare anchor) as that was what was working for other boats. That, with 30
feet of chain and 90 feet of line set firmly, over an hour after we entered the
anchorage. We were glad that we had arrived early in the day since, by dinner
time, seventeen boats filled in the anchorage. It was not a peaceful nights
sleep as we kept getting up to check on the proximity of our neighbors as the
wind continued to blow, but everyone held through the night. As the sun
rose, the fleet departed leaving only us and one other boat there by 0745.
for the Marines where anchoring is allowed. There were four other boats and we
had plenty of room to set the hook. This proved to be a challenge as we dragged
anchor on our first three tries with our CQR in 14 feet of water with 21 knots
of wind. One of the other boats hailed us and recommended setting the Bruce
(our spare anchor) as that was what was working for other boats. That, with 30
feet of chain and 90 feet of line set firmly, over an hour after we entered the
anchorage. We were glad that we had arrived early in the day since, by dinner
time, seventeen boats filled in the anchorage. It was not a peaceful nights
sleep as we kept getting up to check on the proximity of our neighbors as the
wind continued to blow, but everyone held through the night. As the sun
rose, the fleet departed leaving only us and one other boat there by 0745.
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| Spooner Creek Development |
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| Mile Hammock Bay Anchorage |
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| Mark on the Radio on Intuition |