Monday-Tuesday May 23-24:  from Camp LeJeune to Beaufort Horses

     Monday we left Carolina Beach Marina after topping off the water and fuel.  Yes, we just got fuel in Brunswick, GA, but Dan is now following some old advice: never pass a fuel dock without getting some.  We’re probably good until we get to the Chesapeake now.

     The front has fully passed and a stationary high has moved in with Northwest winds and chillier (to us) air.  I pulled out our fleece blanket for the v-berth.  It’s been in storage since we got to the Bahamas.  We’ve been making do with small fleece throws if we needed anything heavier than a sheet, but we’re ready for a blanket at night now.  It’s good sleeping weather,  but it feels strange to wear long sleeves, let along layers.  Dan was so chilled come Monday afternoon he asked for hot chocolate and his flannel-lined jacket.  I think our tropical tans are going to fade before we get home.

     I sat at the helm while Dan tinkered with Ziggy.  He had already moved the autopilot compass further away from the unit itself, and that did help its problem with refusing to travel due North, so Dan decided to see if moving the compass a little further would help Ziggy stay the course in tougher conditions.  So far, it seems to be working, but it’s pretty placid here on the ICW.

Crab pots stacked up on the bank.

Osprey guards her nest.

     We are back to the land of speed boats and fishermen who like to zip by at their top speed.  Most of them are too small to throw much of a wake, and the larger cruisers usually slow down as they pass us slower boats, but once in awhile you get a real jerk.  We had one who deliberately rocked us with a five foot wake.  We can say it was deliberate because we watched him do it to the sailboats in front of us.  Dan was the only one who notified the Coast Guard.  Frankly, they were not interested in hearing about it.  Dan was almost as upset with their response as he was with the irresponsible motor-boat who caused us to rock so dangerously.  We eventually heard from another vessel that the reckless captain turned off suddenly into the Wrightsville Beach area, presumably to hide.  This was during Dan’s lengthy conversation with the Coast Guard and his subsequent call out to others on the ICW to be aware of this motor-boat.  The other vessel thanked Dan for his diligence pursuing the matter.  Perhaps the speeder will think twice before such maneuvers again, especially if he thinks people are on the look out for him.  

     We ended up in the same anchorage with the other vessel - Sisu III, from Seattle WA - at Mile Hammock Bay.  This is a small, partially dredged area used for aquatic military maneuvers at the marine base Camp LeJeune.  When they are not using this bay, cruisers are allowed to anchor overnight, but may not go ashore.  Camp LeJeune has several miles of coastline on the ICW, plastered with signs warning about unexploded ordinance and prohibiting any trespassing.  We had heard the radio warnings about live fire exercises going on, and here at our anchorage we could hear them plainly.  Explosions and machine-gun rattatatat punctuated the evening and began again in the morning, while helicopters circled round and round all night.  Can’t say we weren’t warned.  

Sunset over the land of war games.

     Tuesday morning we were debating getting an early start to get in the 60 miles to Oriental, when Dan realized the nearby sailboat Arden was having engine troubles.  He hailed to Daryl, the owner, and after a short discussion about the woes of diesel engines, Dan offered to come over to help change the fuel filter.  The boat is new to Daryl, who is new to the mechanics of engines, and he was very glad to have us raft up beside him so Dan could come aboard to help.

Dan and Daryl on Arden.

     Daryl has a standard poodle named Rutledge who was very well behaved and agreed to stay below so as not to spook Tommie.  Tommie was a little peeved that Dan was working on an engine and she couldn’t help.  She kept a close eye on him from our deck, while I kept a close eye on her.  Fuel filter changed, fuel line bled, Arden’s engine turned over and started up just fine.  Daryl was very grateful and offered to pay but we asked him to pay it forward.  “Do the same for someone else.”  Dan told him. 

     It was too late then to go all the way to Oriental, so we decided to head for Beaufort (Bowfort) North Carolina.  We missed this place on the way down in the fall.  It's very small, pretty much a one-street town on the waterfront opposite small islands inside the outer bank islands, the gateway to the Shackleford Banks.  It's very busy now, even though their season has just begun, with tour boats and ferries taking people to the small islands opposite the town as well as to the beaches and light house of the outer banks.  We took a quick tour of the small maritime museum which featured pirates and walked through the National Park Headquarters to learn about the wild horses on the nearby islands.  Later we did a little exploring in the dinghy and saw some of those horses.  Tomorrow we plan to explore those islands a little bit more.

Rachel Carson National Estuary horses, a different herd of horses from those on Shackleford Banks.