Do you think they are trying a little too hard????!!!!

Holy pink & periwinkle batman!

A night at Camp Lejeune

The ICW actually runs through the Marine base and there are times when they stop you if they are doing some shooting across the waterway.  We are totally into that thought!!

Mile Hammock is a very pleasant spot to spend the night.  We did have some marine boats flying by us.  Practice they must.

Target practice anyone?

These guys flew by!!

Sunset at Mile Hammock

Same direction in the morning!

You never know what vessel you'll see doing the ICW

These guys won't be the last of unusual boats you will see but they are fun to see and we try to take pictures of all the different ones.  Big and small...........it takes all kinds!

Exit stage right.......to Adams Creek and towards the coast

Going through another bridge at Morehead City

Our backyard in Spooner Creek

With no wind we pulled out of Broad Creek and headed up the Neuse River and then into Adams Creek for a motor down towards Beaufort and Morehead City.  The day was uneventful and we decided to end the day in Spooner Creek.  The entrance is very interesting since you cannot see into the creek until you make a 90 degree turn around a tall concrete wall!  Very tight for GH but it was quiet when we went through.  The anchorage isn't very big but there was only one other boat (it is rather late in the year you know) in the middle anchored so we had plenty of room.

Last night at River Dunes was a nice start

So long River Dunes.  a very nice place to stop and especially good when you have to leave your boat for a few days.

We will be back!

We're back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The time has finally arrived and we are back on GH and will start heading to warm weather ASAP.  We have enough food to last a decade (not as much corn as Kissy) but we will hold our own for now.  Laundry is done and the water tank is topped off.

Lets see, since we left GH at River Dunes, we:

- drove from River Dunes to Annapolis to pick up GHP.
 - then north to Syracuse for the weekend...
 - Sunday night we then head to Rochester for a Teagan visit.....
 - then it's off to Annapolis for a few days with Evan and gang.
 - Last Monday I get the trailer and head south....first stop at the GA. border.
 - next day to Green Cove Springs to store the truck and trailer.
 - taxi to Jacksonville and fly to BWI and rent a car to drive to Annapolis.
 - Next day we drive to River Dunes!

Not much over 2,000 miles but ENOUGH!!

NEXT stop............more warm weather, ON OUR BOAT!!!!

Grey Hound at River Dunes Marina

The forecast is for light winds for a couple of days and then another front will visit around Wednesday.  Hopefully we can make good time over the next week.

Stay tuned.

One year and counting!

Evan is now 1 year old.  Sunday is the big party and then we head south.

River Dunes Marina & Resort

After a rather windy sail into the Neuse River we made it down to River Dunes, our home for a couple of weeks.  The anchorage in Bear Creek was great and we thought we would have a quiet sail out of Bay Creek and down to the Marina.  Wrong!!  We now know about Maw Point and how dangerous that area is.  Locals know that a NE fetch from Pamlico Sound ends up right at the turn from the Bay River into the Neuse River.  Yep, right where we had to go around.  Big, Steep waves (kind of like coming out of Simcoe Island cut but bigger) and GH had to go straight into it until we could head downwind.  Then (under jib only) we shot right into Broad Creek doing 10-12kts.

Right now we have just finished our 750 mile drive from there, to Annapolis to pick up GHP and then continue to Syracuse.  We hope to see friends and family while up here and then it's pedal down because we really want to get into warm weather!!

The Marina is right there.....on dry land!

Blanche II

Very nice!

River Dunes

Nice pool but too cold!

Stand by for new updates as we keep moving all over the country.....

Heading south but NOT fast enough!

On the way to the North Pole??!!

Yep, it is darn cold here in NC!  We will have to make GH go even faster as I look funny with long pants and hats on!

We have had almost no cell coverage going through the state but sometimes we get the Verizon air card to connect like we are doing in our current anchorage in Bear Creek.  No phone but Internet!!??  Go figure and it pays to have two different providers I guess.

Time for a change of scene..

We knew more weather was coming and it was time to hide from the north winds so we went a short ways to Slade Creek

N35.28.417
W076.31.592

The place has rock solid holding as we had some big wind come through.  The old spade didn't let us down and we sat there for two days and hardly went into the cockpit as it was cold and windy!

Still.......nice sunset

Dowry Creek

We anchored in about 6 feet of water as a strong front was predicted. The holding again was fantastic as the front came through like gangbusters around 2am.  We had a beautiful day there before the weather changed.  Here's a sunset shot.  

Sitting pretty

Location    N  35. 32.154
                 W076. 32. 062

We went into the marina to get gas and ice and along the way we met Ben on s/v Loon, Crealock 37 and caught up "Old Rosie", a Bruce Roberts 44 tonner.  Last time we chatted with them was in the North Channel at Long Point Cove, Ontario in 2008 and where also we had "INTANGIBLE" anchored nearby.

It's always nice to meet new people along the way but it's really cool to see people we haven't seen in years.........very small world we keep saying.

We were invited by Loon to go to the marina happy hour but that was short lived.  If you anchor nearby and don't tie up to the ugly pilings at the marina one gets kicked out of that sort of party.  Sooooo....a word to you folks that like to anchor..........don't ask for much cause you won't get much from Dowry Creek Marina!!

East Lake, Durant Island

We stopped for the night at

N  35.55.023
W 075.54.818


Nice anchorage, very secluded and really good holding.  For the night we had light southwesterlies and slept great!!!

Just passin' through Elizabeth City

South Mills Lock to Durant Island, East Lake

We dropped lines from the raft-up around 7:30am to make our way south.  Next stop Elizabeth City and a really nice sail to Durant Island.

Early morning with a good cup of coffee

 Locking up..........easier than locking down

Next stop..........

Let the rafting begin!

No worries, I'll catch you DeFever 49!!

All tucked in

Where's Grey Hound?

The North Carolina Welcome Center, Dismal Swamp.  Well as it works out when there are 18 boats coming through a lock it takes time to get everyone through.  So not one of these vessels was going to make it to the next lock before closing.  That leaves a lot of boats looking for a place to spend the night in a very small area.  It's possible to anchor in the canal but why when you can meet all your "new best friends" at the Welcome Center? Besides the Welcome Center has washrooms and running water.