It's Time To Get Further South!

Day 7! We rose to a definite change in the weather not favorable to sailing. The temperatures dropped and the wind howled all night long blowing the water out of the basin. When we let loose of our lines we had to hug the stern of the boats at dock in order to have enough water to get to the channel. There are no tides here but the wind plays a big factor in the water level. We had strong winds all day but the sun shone and gave us the good old greenhouse effect to keep us warm. We decided to transit across the Neuse River and anchor in the South River. Oriental, NC is on the opposite bank. We had protection from the NW winds and enjoyed our night's sleep.

Day 8! This morning we woke to mild winds when we were supposed to have much higher ones. It was a gift and we enjoyed our trip to Swansboro. We arrived at Dudley's Marina around 3 PM. We docked the boat, took on fuel and walked to the local seafood store for some shrimp. After which we took the courtesy car to the store. We took our showers and returned to the boat for the evening. The evening was calm until early morning when the winds started to blow.

Day 9! Gale winds were predicted for today so we decided it was time to take a day of rest and would stay another day. The winds continued to build though out the morning and afternoon. I looked out the window and saw white things going by the window. When I went out to take a look I saw pea sized hail, then it turned into flakes mixed with rain. The picture shows the hail by our Crocs sitting on the carpet. Now I know it's time to get further South.

This was a picture of the night sky tonight. I missed the sunset while I was up at the shower but this picture was still incredible. Back when we first started our trip in 2005 I took an incredible picture of an incredible sunset right here in Swansboro. It was so impressive people we stopping their cars to take a picture. This one is not quite as vivid but non the less still impressive.

Tomorrow we plan to leave here and travel to Camp Lejeune and anchor in Miles Hammock. Hopefully the ICW will be open and not closed as it was yesterday and this morning due to the gun firing by the Marines and the Navy.