We had to open several bridges on this leg and most of them timed. I want to give a big shout out to the figure eight bridge. We had terrible timing for the first two bridges today. Figure Eight Bridge tender was awesome. He personally went down under the bridge to check our clearance for us because we missed the opening by about 5 minute and we were only inches away from clearing. Then he says. "com'on down here; I won't letcha hit nothin." Started to go through slow. Almost through... "Awwww, back it up Capt. Your dag gum light is about 3" to much." I can tell you with some certainty that there aren't many tenders who would go through the trouble of coming out of their houses and do this for us. Lesson learned - Take the one hour between the bridges and time it accordingly.
A very pretty ride along a fairly populated section of the waterway. Stayed @ Swan Point Marina run by none other than Tina Turner and her mother. I would pass this one by next time....
Today we are headed to Oriental, NC. As I'm sitting here having my coffee getting ready to go and I hear gun fire (a lot of gun fire) from Camp Lejeune. We learn that they perform live fire operations drills here often firing across the ICW. A phone number is provided for you to call daily and find out if/when the waterway will be closed to boat traffic. No drills are scheduled for today, so we should be good to go. We are first greeted by several security patrol boats and if you look closely, you can see the troops performing drills along the waterway and when you look toward the other side (starboard as you head north) you can see targets and shot up tanks both along the banks of the river and farther in on the dunes. Pretty cool stuff and I'm glad that these guys are on our side!
To reach Oriental, you have the pleasure of crossing some pretty "big water" The Bougue Sound and the Neuse River. No Active Captain warnings today for shoaling, which is a nice break.
Marina is fabulous and everyone is super friendly. We walk for groceries and on the way back to the marina, we are asked twice by locals if we need a ride back to the marina. One of the ladies who offered us a ride weren't even going in the same direction we were. Oriental is a small fishing town with a few shops here and there, but largely not much going on outside the marina. Great place for a 2 day stay, clean up the boat and get our laundry done. BTW, they make killer margarita's.
Click here for Swan Point/Oriental Pix
To reach Oriental, you have the pleasure of crossing some pretty "big water" The Bougue Sound and the Neuse River. No Active Captain warnings today for shoaling, which is a nice break.
Marina is fabulous and everyone is super friendly. We walk for groceries and on the way back to the marina, we are asked twice by locals if we need a ride back to the marina. One of the ladies who offered us a ride weren't even going in the same direction we were. Oriental is a small fishing town with a few shops here and there, but largely not much going on outside the marina. Great place for a 2 day stay, clean up the boat and get our laundry done. BTW, they make killer margarita's.
Love the Piraat pic! So cool. Also, the selfie you took is great! It makes me miss you guys! You certainly have had some nice cruising days. Curious to know of the "wave" coming across the starboard bow in one of the pics. Cruising grounds are as beautiful as ever! Love the majestic homes on the waters edge. Till next post...over and out!
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