We departed from Swansboro, NC this morning at 0630 hours and continued south on the ICW... planned destination of Southport, NC. We had a great boost of current as we left Swansboro and were able to make 7.5-7.8 knots even at our reduced "fuel saving" rpm.

We had several bridges to deal with today and opening schedules that can cause some delays. The only thing that worried me today with the bridges is that the first three were swing bridges and do not open if winds are 30 mph or greater... I was already seeing gusts over 25 knots (29 mph)... the opening schedules are easily dealt with but to be held up due to high winds and the bridge not opening would be tough.

The first bridge was the Onslow Beach Bridge and we had no problems making it... winds were gusting over 30 mph but not sustained so they opened at their normal scheduled time.

The second bridge was the Surf City Bridge and 20 miles ahead of us... it opens on the hour only so making it can be a problem... according to the chartplotter and our current speed we would make it with no delay... but the current can change and first thing you know you're ETA is 5 minutes late so you have to either pick up your speed or slow down to cover the same distance taking an extra hour... luckily we did not have to slow down and made the bridge with no delays... also the wind had slowed slightly and we were only seeing 20 knot sustained winds with 25 knot gusts so wind was not an issue.

The third bridge is the Figure Eight Island Bridge... it has a 21 foot clearance and we have a 21 foot air draft so with anything below high tide we can make this bridge if I lower the antennas and mast. Although I did not have to as we arrived at the bridge at 1300 hours just as it was opening for a sailboat... we slipped right through with no delay.

The fourth and final bridge of the day is the Wrightsville Beach Bridge and we have to have it opened except at a low tide... and they only open on the hour... it's 5.1 miles from the Figure Eight Island Bridge to Wrightsville Beach Bridge and so we hade 1 hour to go 5.1 miles... we would have to move at just above idle speed to not have to sit and wait at the bridge... and with the high winds we did not want to sit waiting for the opening... checked the tide and low tide was at 1412 hours... I decided to continue on at our normal cruising speed and see if the tide would be low enough when we arrived at the bridge to clear it. We arrived and the sign boards were unreadable due to barnacle growth on them... I lowered the antennas and mast and we moved forward slowly... Susan went out on the upper deck to check clearance as we approached... we had a stiff current on our stern so stopping if we lacked enough clearance would be difficult... but again luck was with us and Susan gave me the thumbs up that we would clear and we passed under the bridge with several inches to spare.

From this point south until we reached the Cape Fear River we would have current switching back and forth as we passed the small inlets to the Atlantic Ocean. I also found this area to be very shoaled in at each inlet... several times seeing less than 6 feet of water... the channel for the most part ran 8 feet deep... don't remember it being this way in the spring as we went north... must have been Hurricane Irene causing some of this... not sure.

We reached Carolina Beach and we had the current boost back full force... back to over 8 knots all the way through Snow's Cut and down the Cape Fear River to Southport, NC.

Just before Southport I was met by a Coast Guard small boat (27 foot RIB) and was directed to move away from an Army Corp boat that was doing survey work of the ship channel.

We arrived to Southport and turned into the Southport Basin... we docked at the free city dock... just big enough for us... Robert Creech the MTOA port Captain for the area met us and helped with us with our lines. We werfe securely docked at 1645 hours.

There were a few other MTOA members also here and we all met and went out to dinner... 10 of us total... we had a nice evening.

We traveled today for 10 hours and 15 minutes covering 69.23 nautical miles and averaging 6.75 knots.

Trip totals to date:

Distance: 861.66 nautical miles
Hours: 136 hours 46 minutes
Avg Spd: 6.34 knots
Days not moving: 3

We departed from Oriental, NC this morning at 0950 hours and headed south... planned destination Swansboro, NC. Protected waters the entire trip so did not even check the weather forecast... it was sunny and less than 5 knots of wind... so off we went.

It was actually a beautiful day of cruising... the kind that you wish every day was like... we picked up a slight boost from the current as we approached Moorhead City, NC and the inlet... reaching 8 knots for quite while... but once past the inlet at Moorhead City we had the current on the bow against us and we slowed to 5 knots... but we were at the switch from ebb to flood so we soon lost the current against us and were heading down Bogue Sound towards Swansboro at 7 knots.

We did see a lot of boat traffic today... going both directions south and north... why someone is heading north is baffling to me... LOL

We pulled into Swansboro and docked at Duck's Restaurant it's a Dock & Dine... we have stayed here before... normally, the restaurant is different each time we have stopped... they do not seem to last long... but this one had been here for two trips now... maybe they will make it... :)

We were securely docked at 1625 hours at coordinates N34°41.176', W077°41.854' Swansboro, NC.

We traveled today for 6 hours and 35 minutes covering 42.69 nautical miles and averaging 6.48 knots.

Trip totals to date:

Distance: 792.43 nautical miles
Hours: 126 hours 31 minutes
Avg Spd: 6.12 knots
Days not moving: 3

We left the anchorage area at the top of the Pungo River this morning at 0655 hours... the anchorage area was very active during the night... did not get exact count but there were 5-6 power boats and 7-8 sailboats anchored in the anchorage... we left what I felt was early but there were only 3-4 boats still anchored when we left.

We left following 5 power boats... all were running slightly faster than we were and soon they were well ahead of us. We had to cross Pamlico River and the Neuse River today... forecast was for 1-2 foot waves and both bodies of water were exactly as predicted if not less... sun was out most of the time and it was a pleasant cruise today.

When we entered the Neuse River we had 2 power boats still ahead of us and about 10 sailboats... the sailboats were running much slower than we were and we soon passed them all... the two power boats... both 36' Monks took the designated channel (magenta line on the charts) and we cut the corner and were soon a mile ahead of them also.

We had hoped to maybe get to use the free town dock at Oriental but found it to full (2 sailboats)... but we did find the Oriental Harbor just out from the free dock wide open... so we anchored in it just 1000 feet southwest of the free dock... 8 feet of water... 250 feet from the dinghy docks... perfect! Anchoring at 1330 hours at coordinates N35°01.404', W076°41.854'.

We traveled today for 6 hours and 35 minutes covering 47.27 nautical miles and averaging 7.18 knots.

Trip totals to date:

Distance: 749.74 nautical miles
Hours: 119 hours 56 minutes
Avg Spd: 6.25 knots
Days not moving: 3