Southport, NC to Camp Lejeune, NC

You could feel the tension in the air as we headed out of Deep Point Marina at 8:30 this morning. Today was the day. ----We would be passing by the very spot where we ran aground two years ago and lost our rudder as TowboatUS pulled us off! The weather forecast didn't help matters any either! Thunderstorms were expected throughout the day. In spite of all the trepidations, we forged ahead and had an amazingly pleasant day. We managed to make it through the timed bridges that plague slow travelers through this part of the ICW and made it past "the spot" and also Anchors Away Boatyard where Brunelle spent a week high and dry.

THE SPOT. Note the buoy on the left side - - - that's where it all happened and NOW they put a buoy that says "DANGER"!!

Another twenty miles up the waterway we passed our favorite NC boatyard, Anchors Away. Dan was tempted to call and just say hi for old times sake, but he didn't.

All day long we kept getting reports from John aboard Andiamo telling us just how close the next big storm cell was, but not ONE hit us all day long and we were able to motorsail most of the day. The wind did pick up through the afternoon, but it was behind us and didn't cause us any problems. It did cool down a bit as the day wore on, but nothing a long sleeved shirt couldn't handle. We arrived at Mile Hammock Bay which is controlled by the Marine base at Camp Lejeune but is open for cruisers to anchor at 5:30 with the winds gusting higher than they had all day and storm clouds all around us, but still none came close. We are due some rain tonight, but none has shown up yet. We saw hardly any traffic on the waterway today, seems most people were worried about storms. We just wish we were near a convenience store so we could buy some lottery tickets! We all felt this had been a lucky day. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

There are lawn ornaments and lawn decorations, but this is the first lawn giraffe I've ever seen!