Depart: Harbour Village Marina, Hampstead, NC 8:00
Arrive: Town Creek Marina, Beaufort, NC 3:15
Distance: 58 nm
We had a long travel day planned with two bridges that have restricted times for openings on our route. Horizons, the looper boaters we met yesterday, also planned to travel to Beaufort today, and we left shortly after they departed the dock. Unlike the past few days, we had a sunny day with somewhat warmer temperatures for today's travel.
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| View of Harbour Village Marina from ICW side |
We cruise at a slightly higher speed than Horizons, so we passed them along the way. Clark took a picture of their boat. I heard their captain say, "Smile for the camera!", so he must have been taking a picture of our boat as well.
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| Horizons -- Chicago, IL following behind us on way to Beaufort |
We made the Surf City Swing Bridge that Clark worried about by 8:45 and had to hang about waiting for the opening for 15 minutes. Many other boats lined up to grab the same opening. One of them was a 1963 wooden-hulled Trumpy. Absolutely gorgeous boat!
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| Wishing Star -- Wilmington, DE 76.6' 1963 Wooden-hulled Trumpy |
We followed the Trumpy through the bridge. Several more boats passed through behind us.
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| Wishing Star - Trumpy |
After making it through the Surf City swing bridge, Clark's next concern was making the Onslow Bridge opening at 11:00. Onslow only opens on the hour and half-hour. We made it to that one with eight minutes to spare. On the way we saw a very colorful house with a matching lighthouse.
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| PINK! - House and Lighthouse |
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| ICW dredging in progress |
As part of today's travels, we had to transit Camp Lejeune. Clark called ahead to see if munitions firing would be scheduled for today that would close the ICW. He was told it would be clear all week. Still, as we passed through here, we could hear a very disconcerting "BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Clark said, "Even though they are not firing over the ICW, they are still firing!"
The signs through here are "interesting" to say the least.
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| "STOP! Live Firing in Progress When Flashing" |
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| Camp Lejeune - sign ahead |
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| DANGER! Unexploded Ordnance DO NOT ENTER |
Near the "R12" marker, as we approached Beaufort, we "hugged the red" as recommended in Active Captain and saw depths of less than one foot under our 4' keel in the channel. As we searched for deeper water, we passed a much-needed dredge working the area. Since Horizons had told him they had depth finder problems, Clark radioed to tell them of the difficulty we had transiting this area.
Tonight we are staying at a marina in Beaufort that is somewhat off the beaten track called Town Creek Marina. Clark identified a problem with the port engine and scheduled time at this marina to have the main shaft oil seal repaired. Special tools are required for this work that Clark does not have on board. Clark said this marina has a good reputation for boat repair.
Clark hoped to arrive at 3:00 to give the mechanic time to work on the boat today. We got close to that and were docked by 3:15. Surprisingly, we found a lot of wind at the marina. We had a lot less during our trip today. The dock hand that helped us tie up said the wind appeared about the same time we did.
The mechanic appeared a short while after we docked and worked on the repair until 6:00. He said he will come back in the morning with a fabricated pulley puller since he had nothing ready-made that worked for our repair. Since the work will continue tomorrow, we may need to delay our travel plans. That will depend on how the repair work progresses in the morning.
Late afternoon, the clouds rolled in.
So we had a good setting for the sunset pictures later.
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| Sunset in Beaufort, NC |
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| Captured Vertical-lift Aircraft in sunset picture Beaufort, NC |
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