Traveling

 11/15- We left Swansboro early to try and time the tide at Browns Inlet. This is a notorious inlet known for its shoaling. The most recent survey had water depths at 4.5 feet and our draft is 5 feet. The 4.5 feet is at mean low water so that’s why we could use the tide. It was only 8 miles from Swansboro so by the time we got there the tide was still pretty high and we went over the bar with 9 feet of water. It was also a king tide which happens with a new moon and a full moon. One tide a day is higher than normal and one is correspondingly lower. 

   Anyway we were over it almost before we knew we were there as the current just swept us along. We waited a bit at the swing bridge but then we motored into Mile Hammock Bay where we anchored. This is a large pool just off the ICW in the middle of Camp Lejune. Camp Lejune is a large military base where much of the amphibious training for Marines takes place. We were not allowed ashore to say the least. 

11/16- Whew!! What a day! We left before dawn today because we had a long way to go. Initially the current took us along at 7 knots or so but every time we passed an inlet the current would be against us until the next one. We would go from 7 knots to 4 knots in a heartbeat. The area is just filled with all these inlets some open to the ocean and the tide just either pours in or out. 

    As we got near the Figure Eight Island bridge I called the bridge tender to see if we could make the next opening but he said we were too far away. We throttled down and tried to loaf our way up to the bridge but at times we were doing 4.5 knots with the boat in neutral. As we got close he called me and said if we’d made it sooner he would have opened it. Oh well. 

    That bridge opens on the hour and half hour. The Wrightsville bridge only opens on the hour. I mistakenly thought that it was too far away for us to make it so we lollygagged up to the bridge. This one I missed by 5 minutes and had to wait an hour for the next opening. The trouble with this bridge is the current was raging. I turned to go back upstream for a bit and with the boat in gear I was going backwards. Of course about 10 other boats showed up while we waited everyone jockeying around trying to wait in this very strong current. Finally when the bridge opens it’s a mad dash to get lined up to go through. 

    On the other side is the town of Wrightsville Beach which is filled with boats of all different kinds. It was pretty narrow and the current was pulling us along and there all kinds of other boat’s blowing past us and by us…. It was exhausting. We still had 10 miles to go and the same thing with the inlets kept happening. We would go from 7 knots to 4 knots. 

    We finally pulled into Carolina Beach around 4:30  and took a mooring in the harbor. We were exhausted. We will stay here for another day anyway to wait out some rainy weather tomorrow. There’s supposed to be a nice beach just the other side of the cape. I can hear the waves breaking now. 

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