Back From The Dead . . . .ZONE!

SHIP'S LOG:

Saturday - Swansboro, NC

Having spent the day(Friday) sitting in the rain in Swansboro, it was a good feeling that Saturday dawned, or at least I thought it did. It was difficult to tell because the sun came up behind a whole lot of fog. Big For! Serious Fog! Pea Soup Fog! How ever you want to say it, there was think fog and lots of it.

It almost looked like another day in Swansboro when suddenly the fog burned off, well most of it anyway. Enough so that I could move and move I did. I It almost made me turn around and head back south!t was a bit disconcerting to note that as i moved out I could see my breath! It didn'tseem cold enough for frosty breath though I am not sure at what temperature that takes place, but it was surely there.

The trip was split between two 21 mile stages. The first went to Morehead City where the last time I was there I went aground. And the Second went from Morehead City up the Adams Canal to South River across the Neuse River from Oriental.

The run up to Morehead Cioty is basically up Bogue Sound. It looks like an wonderfully open piece of water but like so many place along the ICW, it is deceiving. Drift out side the ICW channel and you will stop drifting altogether. What makes this hard to accept is the fact that all around you there are speed boats and shallow draft power boats going hell bent for leather in every direction and it is hard not to follow them. It makes it hard not to cut corners at marks and waypoints, and just bhead whwere you want to go, but I am wise enough and experienced enough now not to fall into that trap.

It was a long morning getting up to Morehead City as the tide was coming in and I was going against it. This meant that when I got through Morehead City, if I decided to go on, the tide would be with me, pushing me, at least until it turned and then it would be against me. Since I got to Morehead Ciy about 12:30, I decided to do the next stage and headed up the Adams Canal to South River. About and hour into this stage, the tide turn and I slowed downa dn once again was fighting the tide. It didn't help that there was a large wildfire burning north of Morehead City and I had to travel through the smoke as well. There is not much to tell as this part of the ICW in NC is noted for long straight stretches and there is not much that makes them interesting. In fact there is really nothing that makes them interesting. A few houses here, a bunch of boat there, guys fishing over here. I have seen a lot of miles of the same picture and it is beginning to bore.

Made it up to the South river off the Neuse River across from Oriental about 5;45pm. There were half a dozen boats scattered in the river but there are miles and acres of anchorage so there was no problem find a spot. The weather is once again suppose to crap out on Sunday so it is nice to have a secure spot for the storms acomin'!

Boat Names of the Day:Cuz I Can/ Cushie Tushie

Sunday - South River - 34'57.859N/ 076'34.625W

NOAA got it right. Rain, rain, Rain and more rain. Good day for a book and a glass or 5 of wine.

Monday:

After weeks and weeks of being in rivers and canals, to hit the stretch of the Neuse River where you can loos sight of the shoreline and not see you next make made me a little uneasy. There were a number of boats around but I can never tell if they are going the same way I am so i have to follow my own course. It gets a bit confusing when they seem to be going in the same general direction as I am but until you hit( come to that is) a turning mark, you never really know for sure. Lot soi f powerboats heading north and I am disappointment that the courtesy that I expected from them this far north continues to be absent.

Went through the Hobucken Cut home to the loneliest Coast Guard Station and the hanging-on-by-their-teeth RE Mayo Fish Company. The Cut dumps into Goose Creek which in turn dumps into Pamlico River. The river is nice and wide at this pooint and I was hoping for a chance to sail. All the sailboats were hoping for as each of us entered the river, up went the sailing and for a few hundred yards it was wonderful but the wind died quickly and the engines all came back on. Even when the wind did pick up, it always seemed to be on the nose. Strange how on the way down, the wind was always out of the South/Southwest and that on the way back the wind is always from the North/ Northeast. In both cases right on the nose. There seems to be a plot here!

At least the tide was with me on the way up the Pungo River which meant I could easily get to Upper Dowry Creek, a wonderful little protected spot. It is a good jumping off point for the long and boring Alligator River-Pungo River Canal. It is probably the one place on the ICW where a auto pilot would actually be not only useful, but helpful.