Heading North from Wilmington July 19

We've been making changes to the Hydrophilic, working on this and that and finding out some things we just didn't know.  So now with the new anchor and the generator working, we are ready to head a little north.  It was odd to go past our home in The Tides.  Our marina looks great. 

The Tides- Our home port

So much to see on this trip so far.  On shore just after Wrightsville, you can see a giraffe at one home and next door is a silver Poseidon. 

 

At Surf City swing bridge, we had a short wait.  Apparently, a few hours before a barge had crashed into the wooden fenders under the bridge.  The water was full of debris.  Thankfully, no one was hurt!  The water was full of wooden debris and there were safety officers in boats alerting everyone to the jetsam in the water.  We were the first vessel allowed to go through the bridge after it had been inspected.  

Some miles later, we passed the barge that had caused the damage.  Note the some of the Surf City Bridge fenders were still on board.

It was a very hot day, in the high 90's so we were happy to find a good anchorage right on the edge of Camp Lejeune.  While we could not get internet service, we did have lots of other good news.  The generator works well and is not too loud.  The air
conditioning works well off the generator.  The new anchor, a 55 lb. Rocna, holds very well.  We did not worry about dragging as all.

John had the coffee made early this morning.  We pulled anchor and headed back out on the ICW.  On this section of the ICW, you are within the confines of Camp Lejeune Marine Base.  Where else will you have a sign warning that you may be in the line of fire or see bombed out tanks?   HOO RAH. 

We crossed Bogue Inlet, and passed Morehead City.  There were six barges rafted together and each was filled with North Carolina pine trees.  I didn't get the picture but that is OK because the scent on the water was amazing!  They say that sailors can smell land, I'll bet they can. 

Adams Creek was really very nice, not a creek at all but a fairly straight waterway with plenty of deep water.  It enters the Neuse River near Oriental, NC.  Oriental is known as a sailing community with more sailboats than people.  Tonight, they one more trawler among the many masts.