Stats for May 18, 2019

Origin: Provisions Dock, Southport, NC

Destination: Swansboro, NC free dock

Distance: 79.6 miles

Speed: 8.5 mph

Time on the Move: 9 hours and 20 minutes

Shortly after we got off the dock at Provisions, we saw a great example of the freighters that use this inlet. We passed by this tanker headed out to sea and even watched a pilot boat go right up to it, I suspect to get the pilot off the ship before it got too far out of the harbor.

We passed by Sunny Point before too long, which is the nation’s largest ammunition shipping point on the east coast. It covers 16,000 acres and has tight security, as you can imagine. The entrance along the water is blockaded with concrete piles connected by chains and signs warning of a restricted zone. It is also manned by a security boat. By land, I’ve read that there are large sand berms protecting the whole area. This shipping terminal is used to send ammunition, explosives, and dangerous cargo around the world, as well as supporting Fort Bragg if soldiers there are mobilized.

The kiddos worked on some school work underway, as usual. Hayley is just about finished with her entire 2nd grade math book, and she regularly journals and reads for fun. Colin has a chapter left in his math book, and he reads for fun regularly, but journaling is not his idea of a good time. He still does it multiple times a week because I’m the meanest teacher, obviously. Tobin is working on a preK-Kdg bridge book, loves practicing math, and often traces and writes numbers and letters. His interest in paper/pencil work has increased immensely in the last month or so. I don’t want to push book work with him, but he wants to be like brother and sister, so workbooks it is!!

We had some desolate stretches during our day and some busy stretches. Heading towards this bridge in Wrightville Beach was one of our busiest spots. The bridge was set to open on the hour, but we were pretty sure we could sneak under with about 6 inches to spare, so we went for it. Turns out that we probably had a foot or more. But let me tell you, dodging all these boats, aiming for the center of the bridge, and avoiding other boats putting in at the boat launch was stressful!! Whew!!

We filled up with cheap diesel fuel near Sneads Ferry where this shrimp boat tied up RIGHT IN FRONT of us to fill his fuel tanks as well. Luckily, he was ready to pull out just before us because I didn’t feel great about getting off the dock with him about 12 inches in front of us.

Our next excitement along the waterway was provided by the Marines at Camp Lejeune. There was a very low bridge operated by the Marines that opened strictly on the hour and we happened to get there at EXACTLY the right moment. How we get so lucky without looking ahead, I’ll never know!! Then we traveled through a “live fire” area that is used for training. Of course they weren’t firing or doing any training at the time, but just seeing the signs and targets riddled with bullet holes was creepy enough.

We had a few options for anchorages and one of them was highly recommended because you could quite often see Marine training maneuvers on the water and flights overhead (not in the live fire range, of course!). We would have stopped, but we didn’t see much to look at when we went by and who even knows if the Marines train on Saturday evenings?! Hopefully they get the day off!! So we continued about 10 miles down the ICW to make good use of our day.

I thought we were going to anchor and next thing I know, Mike found a free dock at Swansboro that he wants to tie up on. Sure enough, we stick the landing with live music and a restaurant full of people just at the end of the dock. We were a bit further away from the crowd this time, but the music was great. Mike wanted to get the kids off the boat, so he found a playground nearby. Leave it to him–always time to fit in another adventure. Just when I’m ready for jammies, he’s breaking out the soccer balls. Really, though, it was a nice walk through a historic town and we all enjoyed getting some energy out.

After playground time and soccer practice, we headed back to the boat under the light of a full moon. Tobin was crying in my ear about something he saw on the ground that I wouldn’t let him pick up, so it was a long walk back to the boat. I’m sure he was just tired, but I also blame that full moon.

The dock here was a great stop. We don’t mind anchoring one bit, but hearing the music and having the opportunity to get off the boat were welcome after a long day of travel.

Thanks for reading and following along!!