Day 5 - Oct 31, 2013
 
Up at our usual time, but today for breakfast we dine on the nutritiously zero Pop Tarts and coffee. I think the Admiral may be on strike. 

Running a little late, the anchor is finally up at 0730 hrs. Today’s destination is some marina in Morehead City. We usually try to get a cheap dock at the Sanitary Restaurant, but they do not have services or showers and the Admiral insists she needs a shower.

Passage through Adams Creek and most of Core Creek are nothing noteworthy. Skies began turning very grey and the winds piped up as we exited Core Creek. Then light rain started and the winds got stronger. Conditions went further downhill during the 4 miles to Morehead City. During this final trudge, I managed to contact Portside Marina, secure a slip at the Morehead City Docks and arranged to refuel and do a pump-out at Portside.

When we reached Portside, the rain changed to a light drizzle. The wind remained up and docking was difficult, but we were able to keep from crashing the dock. A dock hand informed us this weather is a coastal low that formed off SC and fooled the weather guessers. Imagine that! After conducting business at Portside, we moved eastward down the channel to the City Docks.

A strong cross current and the strong southerly wind made getting in the slip very difficult so we docked bow in. Thank goodness the finger piers are 50 feet long. Bow in means our stern faces into the strong southerly winds. This means we will have wave slap under the stern all night. Oh well, a little noise is easier to tolerate than a dock crash or broken equipment.

It was 1400 hrs after I spent time adjusting lines, getting shore power connected and washing down the boat with fresh water. Standing in the rain, washing down the boat…its official, I’m either dumber than a rock or nuttier than a fruit cake.

Funny how a couple of brews and some snacks make the ole attitude a little better. As I write this blog entry it’s almost 1800 hrs and I feel like I need a shower and a nap before dinner. To bad I’ll be wide awake when I get back from the shower. Fortunately, a full tummy always puts me to sleep.

The weather report indicates the front headed our way will have rain, lightning and strong winds, but should be blowing out of here by Saturday morning. We may be sitting Friday out right here. We'll be checking the forecast again later.

That’s it, I’ve rambled on enough already.

Location: Morehead City Docks, Morehead NC, Mile Marker 204
Distance Traveled: 17 Statute Miles
Day 4 - Oct 30, 2013
We’re up at 0600 hrs. We have coffee and breakfast as we wait for daybreak again.

We up anchor at 0715 hrs and move out of the anchorage and back into the ICW. Our planned destination today is Broad Creek which is just a little north of Oriental, NC.

There is very little wind from any direction. The water is flat and glassy which makes for easy motoring and absolutely no sailing. We arrive at the turn to head for Broad Creek around 1430 hrs and decide to continue on to an anchorage in Adams Creek. When we arrived there, we found 9 other boats already anchored which made it next to impossible to anchor there. We found a wide spot off the ICW channel just big enough for one boat and 6.5 feet of water. We got the anchor down at 1645 hrs. Being close to the channel, we got a few wakes from motor yachts until almost dark.

It was another uneventful day, but the weather forecast looks like mother nature has some changes coming out way. Thankfully we only have about 14 miles to Morehead City where we will get a slip, fuel up, take showers and hunker down for the predicted cold front and nasty weather.

Location: Adams Creek, NC, Mile Marker 187.5
Distance Traveled: 58 Statute Miles
Avg Speed: 6.1 MPH
Day 3 - Oct 29, 2013

We’re up at 0600 with the temperature of 60F inside the boat. It feels about 10 degrees less outside. I slept fitfully because the refrigerator kept cycling and making funny noises. Sure hope it’s not going bad.

While waiting for daybreak, we enjoy coffee and a wonderful breakfast of boiled eggs, homemade bread and a fruit cup. Heck, I don’t usually eat this good at home.

We upped anchor at 0700 and got underway. The Albemarle Sound was very calm and we make good time. We approached the Alligator River entrance and found the troublesome channel marks essentially where I had replotted them back in 2010. The bridge tender held a long opening allowing about 14 boats to make it through.

We make good time and opt to change our destination from the southwest end of the Alligator River to the south end of the Pungo-Alligator Canal. It’s a boring run through the 20 mile canal, but we made good time and arrived at our destination anchorage at 1750 hrs. We anchor in 10 ft of water along with 11 other sailboats and 2 trawlers. It was a quiet night and we both slept well.



Pungo-Alligator Canal


Location: Pungo River, NC, Mile Marker 127
Distance Traveled: 69.5 Statute Miles
Avg Speed: 6.9 MPH
Day 2 - Oct 28, 2013

We took our time getting underway today. Our destination is an anchorage about 8 miles away. It is a good jumping off point for crossing the Albemarle Sound and getting deep into the Alligator River or even beyond.

We departed Midway Marina at 1015 hrs in chilly, sometimes overcast conditions. We arrived at our anchoring location at 1205 hrs and dropped the hook in 8.5 feet of water at the mouth of Lutz Creek.

After a great lunch, we both took a nap. I slept for about an hour, but Donna slept till almost 1600 hrs. Two 40+ ft sailboats and a big trawler anchored near us.




 
Lutz Creek Anchorage

Location: Lutz Creek off the North River, NC, Mile Marker 59
Distance Traveled: 8.5 Statute Miles
Avg Speed: 5.0 MPH