Finally Arrived in New Bern, NC

WOW what a week.  It has been several days of 60+ miles days and we finally arrived at North West Creek marina yesterday afternoon after one of the best travelling days ever!!

We spent a layday in Charleston on the 17th for weather.  It was a day of several thunderstorms so a good time to relax and provision a bit.  On the 18th we left out Charleston Inlet to run offshore up to Winyah bay to anchor for the night.  Once near the turning point in the inlet we turned towards the heading we would use for the trip and it was too rolly for our testes.  It was a shame because we had a favorable current going out at 7+ knots and now we turned back in at 5kts to return and head up the ICW.  We made the Ben Sawyer bridge right at low tide and there are trouble areas just north of there so I opted to anchor for an our before going on.  One of the reasons I did not want to repeat the ICW.  We made it okay but fought current most of the day and finally arrived at the south Santee river for the night to anchor.

The next morning we headed up the ICW towards Georgetown, SC and on to Barefoot landing.  It was a very long day of more than 13 hours.  The current was against us all day and we averaged only 5.2 knots to run 62 miles and arrived at 7pm.  We took a slip and were happy to finally arrive -- no anchorages here.

We were off the next morning at 6:15am and had a fast favorable current all the way to Wrightsville Beach for a total of 72 miles -- longest run on this trip.  Fortunately they had dredged the inlets this spring.  We hit Shallotte Inlet an hour before low tide and made it across seeing a low water of 7.2 feet.  Then on to the troublesome Lockwood Folly. Hmmm we were going to hit it at dead low tide and today that was .6 feet below the average.  I anchored for an hour before going through.  I wanted to be on the rising side.  We made it through there with a low of 6.2 feet!!  That's close but no bump.  We anchored in Wrightsville beach around 6:30pm and enjoyed another night on the boat.  Well maybe "enjoyed" is not the word.  There are now hundreds of small boat operators here and they have absolutely no respect for anchored boats.  We rocked and rolled from the wakes till dark then had a comfortable night on the hook.  Wrightsville is not one of my favorite anchorages anymore.

The next morning we left about 6am to try and make Swansboro, NC.  normally we would stop at Mile Hammock but we wanted to get home -- like the cows we could see the barn door and picked up the pace.  This was another great run with favorable current.  We made Southport around 2pm and fueled up at the marina just before southport.  Then off into the Cape Fear river for the best run EVER.  We were hitting 9.1 kts at times with the current and had favorable current all day to Wrightsville beach.

The next morning we were headed to Mile Hammock bay and possibly on to Swansboro.  Wow -- another great day of favorable current.   so we would go through as it was going up.  That worked and we saw a low of 7.2 feet across the inlet.  The marker bouys around 72 A nd B are not set right but the updated NOAA charts showed a "J hook" path through the shoal area and we used that rather than the buoys.  We hit Mile hammock around 2pm and kept going to Swansboro.  The wind was favorable and we motor sailed arriving around 5:30pm.  Unfortunately the anchorage is not very good.  I anchored in the White Oak anchorage years before on Luna Sea and wrapped the anchor line around the keel.  It took an hour to clear.  Tonight it would be worse with 20+ kts from the SW hitting us and a very strong current.  However the Rocna Anchor did us proud and stuck on the first attempt and held all night.  It was noisy when the current switched 180 degrees at midnight and we were pushed forward over the anchor for awhile.  In the morning all was fine and the anchor came up with no hitch although I needed boat power to break it loose.  It was really stuck well.

Yesterday was my finest run ever!  We left Swansboro just after 6am and headed for North West Creek Marina expecting to arrive around 7pm.  We fought the current for about 2 miles to the Bogue Inlet then the dogs of hell were unleashed.  We had a favorable current and ran at 7.2 kts + all the way to the Morehead City Turning basin.  Made it in just 2 and 1/4  hours.  We slowed down through the turning basin then went under the Morehead 70 high Rise and the speed jumped to 7.0+ and held all the way to the Neuse.  Unbelievable.

Once on the Neuse with the wind gusting to the low 20s on the nose we ran at 5.6kts  most of the way to the marina.  We  arrived at just after 3pm -- an unbelievable run.  Once at the marina I went to the gas dock to pump out and top my diesel off  and I really didn't want to go to the slip in this strong wind with no lines rigged.  Since they were out of diesel they let us stay the night on the gas dock  and it was welcome.

Today my crew -- Jill and Wayne Poston -- left me to return home.  They wanted a Budget Rental car and the closest that was available was in Richlands, NC at the Albert Ellis Airport or about 62 miles from here.  It was a pleasant trip  through the most remote areas of NC top\ get there!!  They are off on the way home and I'm back on Temptation offloading all kinds of stuff and planning to leave here on Tuesday for a trip home.  Wow I've been gone since June 5th!