Swansboro, NC

It’s another Silly Hat Day!

Tuesday, 4 November                                    49.3 SM

It seemed ambitious for little Steadfast but…

The mornings have been a bit on the chilly side, i.e., into the 30s. It’d be a whole lot warmer south of here, or so one would assume. So let’s give it a shot. Try for Mile Hammock Bay, more than 60 miles away, what would be the boat’s biggest day so far. Laura and Bill planned to leave at first light with their Endeavor ketch Second Wind to get her through Camp LeJeune, where the Marines would be “exercising” tomorrow. Were we to join them, Bill promised they would share one of Laura’s home-made pizzas for dinner.

Some homes on the creek have a Key West feel.

Coffee was brewing when “D” rapped on the hull at 0630. Consummate hostess, as always, she’d arisen early to see us off in the morning chill. Steadfast motored down Tarpon, down Whittaker and out across the Neuse toward Adams Creek.

Second Wind left from Oriental even earlier. She could be seen well ahead, her new genny catching the brisk nor’westerly. Good. She made it easier to spot the entrance to Adams on the dark wooded shore. Sun up, sky not so dark though still a bit gloomy, and on down the creek Steadfast went.

Here’s another stretch much like those earlier, narrow, shallow, sheltered, easy to traverse ‘cause there’s nowhere to go but ‘tween the mostly high banks lined with mostly non-descript cubicle homes at the ends of short piers. So, motor on in the chill.

Porpoise play but don’t pose on Adams Creek.

The creek widens, though stays fairly shallow, to meet the New River but still there are porpoise playing here. Go figga! They seem to be having a good time, too, although they don’t pause to pose.

On the approach to Morehead City, another milestone was passed, literally: Mile Marker 200. Steadfast now has transited 200 statute miles of the AICW. No matter. It’s still cold. And more confusing, a channel to port leading to Beaufort, one to starboard to Morehead, a third and fourth going…who knows?

A steady stream of traffic down Bogue Sound.

Without a chart, this harbor would be a maze. With a chart, it’s still a tricky path but manageable and interesting, too. On the surface, it’s pretty much open water from Beaufort west across to Morehead City but shoals shift all across. Adding to the intrigue this day is the work being done on the Morehead City railroad bridge, meaning it’s open only from noon to one. Timing is everything. Get there at noon or spend the night.

A foul current slows progress on the Sound.

Steadfast slips through right on schedule, making the hard turn to starboard past the big industrial piers and into Bogue Sound. The view forward explains why many say “the ICW is like driving I-95.” A couple of boats just ahead, and ahead of them and farther up and sticks as far as can be seen in the overcast.

After riding a fair current down Adams Creek in the morning, the current turns foul with the so’westerly right on the nose. It’s clear Steadfast won’t make Mile Hammock before dark so Swansboro becomes the back-up plan. A call confirms there’s room on the pier at Dudley’s Marina, another mom-and-pop kind of place. A bit rough around the edges, for sure, but at 75-cents-a-foot, it’s a bargain. And…there’s an electric hook-up which means, yes, heat.

As Yogi said, “It gets late early this time of year.”

So it turns out to be one of those days when the hoped for destination proves not to be. Still, a lot of water under the keel to put Steadfast 50 miles closer to the warm. It’s a good day.

Steadfast out.