continued
We crossed the Albemarle Sound and the Alligator River and had a very good sailing day. We had the wind with us for most of the day, allowing us to motor sail. This was much to our delight as this stretch of the ICW, over those two bodies of water, can be treacherous. We pulled into an anchorage, just off Tuckahoe Point, just at the mouth of the Alligator River – Pungo River Canal. This canal connects the two rivers. We’d taken on the Alligator River and decided to leave the Pungo River for another day. We were not the only boat in the anchorage and were eventually joined by several other boats. All in all we had 12 boats anchored out with us.
We woke to a spectacular sunrise with the sun’s colors reflecting on the water and the reflection of the anchor lights twinkling on the water. Pictures of sunrise at Tuckahoe. The forecast was not looking good so we decided to make it a short day and head for Belhaven to the Dowry Creek Marina. We arrived around noon and were invited to a pot luck by the owners of the marina for that evening. We gladly accepted and offered to bring desert.
Monica especially enjoyed the evening as it gave her a chance to meet and talk with other folks, (unfortunately, no kids around her age). But she was able to get two recipes from the dinner, beer bread and flourless chocolate chip cookies, both recipes she’s tried on board and they have received rave reviews. We weathered the storm that hit early Monday morning at the marina and prepared to leave early on Tuesday morning.
The weather seemed to be cooperating, so we headed out early from Belhaven. Another perfect sailing day greeted us with favorable winds and tides. We took advantage of it and made it 70 miles into Beaufort. There was a thunder storm threatening in the area so we tucked into a marina in Town Creek, just outside of the town docks in Beaufort. The storm hit that night and brought 50 mph winds. We had a restless night but woke to a calmer morning.
We left Beaufort early and caught the tides just right going out of the harbor. It can be a tricky one with many channels flowing into it. We had another beautiful day with lots of sunshine. We decided to call it a day about 4:00 p.m. and anchor in Hammock Bay whose shores are host to the Marines from Camp Lejeune Marine Base. We dropped the hook and were suddenly startled by a huge boom. After some investigation, we discovered the Marines were practicing and bombing in the immediate area. Just when we thought things had settled down for the evening, marine helicopters swarmed in and gave us another startle. There were about 20 boats in the anchorage with us, given this and the military activity, it made for a less than tranquil anchorage.
Another stretch of ICW…alas, it feels a bit tedious. We pushed on another 50 miles and took refuge at a marina right off the ICW in Carolina Beach. Another long day on the water.