OK, I have a confession to make. The last blog entry had us exiting the Dismal Swamp and having just crossed into North Carolina. We are now actually in St Augustine, FL. I have a lot to catch up on.
After entering the Albemarle Sound, we headed east towards the barrier islands - Kitty Hawk and Nags Head in particular. The actual ICW goes more to the west and cuts through the Alligator river and canal. Originally we were thinking we'd go visit Kitty Hawk, but then realized it would involve renting a car, so we decided against it in the end. We ended up at a Marina on Roanoke Island which is the island you pass through to reach the barrier islands where Kitty Hawk and Nags Head are.
One thing we were warned about, and I'm not sure if it's real or a wives tale, is that crabbers in the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds are allowed to (and do) use stainless wire between their floats and traps. I've got line cutters on our running gear to deal with any errant encounters, but wire would make quite the mess. Needless to say, we kept a careful watch for floats, but fortunately there were not very many.
The next day we made a straight run - at least as straight as the shallow water allowed - across the Pamlico Sound and rejoined the ICW at the Adams River/Canal. Just inside the river we found a very nice spot to anchor for the night.
The next day we had some decisions to make. The first was whether or not to spend a day in Beaufort, NC which is at the other end of the Adams Creek/Canal, or to bypass and keep moving. One constraint was that the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show was approaching, and I had booked a room and planned to attend. We needed to get to a spot with reasonable transportation so I could catch a flight down, and a spot where Laurie could enjoy the 5 days or so that I'd be away. Myrtle Beach looked like the spot with a good marina, regular flights, and all the goods and services that one might need. A few quick calculations made it clear that we needed to keep moving. In fact, we needed to make up some time. So the decision was made to bypass Beaufort, and put it on the list of places to visit on our return. The next decision was whether to run inside the ICW, or go outside down to Wrightsville. Along the ICW is Camp LeJeune, and they do regular live firing exercises across the ICW out into the ocean. They shut down the ICW for their playtime, and there is a large section of the shoreline that is off limits at all times. This one became another easy decision. We headed outside, cranked up the speed, and went all the way to Wrightsville. Along the way we encountered two warships, one hanging out just inside the keep-out zone, and a carrier off on the horizon. Although we didn't hear any booms, I can only think that all the activity signaled playtime and that the ICW would have been shut down for a few hours. And as a bonus, we were rewarded with absolutely glassy seas the whole way down to Wrightsville.
I hope you are enjoying this, and feel free to comment or ask questions in the "Comments" space below.