Day 225: Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Port to Port: Sloop Point to Swansboro, North Carolina
Underway: 8:00 am Motor Off: 3:10 pm Miles Traveled: 36 Stayed At: Marina
First Things First: First time watching missiles being shot off across the ocean and machine guns shooting at drones; first time seeing marines training; first time meeting someone who randomly found our blog before meeting us (Hi Chris – maybe we will see you in Florida someday); first time seeing a parrot at a marina.
Mile 264 to Mile 228: After a quiet night at anchor, we got going just in time to get to the next bridge which only opens on the hour – we almost didn’t make it because we dawdled too much but we got there with a couple minutes to spare. We have been really lucky with the bridges – it is hard to plan 15 miles out with the current and wind.
The scenery was very rural most of the day. Surprisingly, only two cruisers passed us going north – one right away in the morning and the other late in the afternoon. A busy day on the ICW. We must still be ahead of the snowbirds.
We passed by Camp LeJeune which straddles the ICW. It’s not everyday you hear and see people shooting what sound like big and loud machine guns at small drones (hopefully these are $100 Hobby Town model airplanes) with an occasional missile launch aimed at something out in the ocean. They sometimes randomly close the ICW for up to 3 hours if they are shooting across the channel. That would screw up your schedule. You never know what you’re going to see on the Great Loop.
After we got gassed up and cleaned up, we decided to walk to town to stretch our legs and check out the little downtown. Sadly, most of the shops were already closed but it was a nice walk (and you can’t spend money when the stores aren’t open). We had planned to cook pork chops on the boat but we followed some good smells to the Icehouse Restaurant and decided to splurge and eat out. Cindy had an amazing fish sandwich and I had one of the best hamburgers of the trip. As an extra bonus, they serve hot fresh bread as a free appetizer (wish you were here Sarah). What a deal.
Our destination today was Dudleys Marina in Swansboro, North Carolina. It has gotten good recommendations on Active Captain and only charges $0.75/ft. We weren’t expecting much but we were pleasantly surprised. The docks are old but everyone is really helpful – it is a family owned business – they have internet and electricity is included. The showers were clean and hot. There is a gas station onsite ($3.39/gal) and they have a well-stocked ships store. They even have a courtesy car. And did I mention they have a 60 year old parrot named Clyde who likes to sit on the fence outside the store and watch people come and go? Well they do and he does. What more could you ask for?
In Passing: Shackelfoot Canal, Hammock Bay, Alligator Bay, Stump Sound