Day #290 - Beaufort, NC
May 17th, 2009Last night was a bit of a rough night in Wrightsville. The marina is actually just a face dock located right on the ICW and almost under a bridge. Boat traffic was heavy all night which makes for a rough ride. Also, a boat directly in front of us, named My Boat, decided to board with about 10 drunk people at 1:30 am. Then they decided it would be a good idea to crank up the stereo and dance on the docks. Hope they are sleeping well today.
The trip today to Beaufort, NC (pronounced Bo-furt, as opposed to Bew-furt in SC) was a long one. We had many bridges to contend with and 80 miles to travel on the ICW. We passed under the first bridge at 6:10 am. We arrived at one of the bridges with a 12′ clearance at 8:20 and they informed us that they only opened on the hour, not the hour and half hour like most others. And so we waited. And waited. Our luck changed and the current carried us faster than we had anticipated and made it to the next 12′ bridge one half hour ahead of schedule so we made up the lost time.
The area is wide and less traveled than yesterday. There was very little boat traffic.
Note the crab pots on the shore above. Boaters are much happier to see them on the shore than in the water.
Camp Lejeune Marine Corp Base is located in the area. The last swing bridge we went through said it is operated and maintained by the Marines. It appears that they take shooting practice in this area as well. Glad they decided to take a day off today as obviously they close it to boat traffic when they do.
The houses along the way have varied quite a bit. There are huge mansions on the water and we have passed several waterfront trailer parks. This house should win for being the most colorful.
A huge storm was predicted and we had hoped to make it to the marina and be safely tied up before it hit. With that we weren’t so lucky.
The storm hit exactly at noon. Thankfully, we haven’t had this view from the pilot house many days on this trip.
We arrived at Beaufort Docks 8.75 hours and 80 miles after we left. Long day and glad to be here.
