From Oriental to Myrtle Beach, SC

      After two nights at the free dock in Oriental, we moved our boat out to the anchorage. We were able to get a lot accomplished in Oriental and had a great time visiting with our friends. Tuesday morning, we sailed to Morehead City, and tied up at The Sanitary Restaurant, which usually allows boats to tie up there for ten dollars a night. However, the restaurant was closed for the season, so no one came around to collect the dockage fee. We knew there was weather moving in on Wednesday, so we decided to stay put, and we're really glad we did. The winds howled all Tuesday night and into Wednesday, so we walked around town, did some Christmas shopping and played a marathon game of Catan.

Tazzie, who usually goes training with plastic boat fenders, was in doggie heaven at the Ace Marice Hardware store

Wednesday evening, Michael and Mom took Tazzie to a little island. They explored paths through the woods and Tazzie enjoyed running on the beach.

We were hoping to go 'outside' in the ocean from Morehead City to Wrightsville Beach, but the waves hadn't calmed down from the front yet, so we decided to stay 'inside' on the ICW. Thursday morning we were escorted out of Morehead City by a pod of dolphins! We saw some here and there throughout the day on Bogue Sound We tried to stop for fuel at Dudley's Marina, but it was low tide and we hit bottom. We backed off and headed to another marina in Swansboro. We fueled up and decided to wait there and explore the town for a couple of hours. The marina also let us take showers there. 

     The reason we aren't in a hurry is because tonight we are anchoring at Mile Hammock, which is right in the middle of Camp LeJeune, a Marine base. No one is allowed to go to shore, so it could be a long night for Tazzie. We wanted to give her as much land time as possible before we get to Mile Hammock. On our last trip when we came through here, four large black inflatable boats came speeding up the channel toward us. They landed on the beach and Marines jumped out and crawled on their bellies firing their guns at an unseen 'enemy'. We didn't have quite as much drama this time, but we did see and hear lots of low flying helicopters and a military aircraft called an Osprey, which Dad and Michael found fascinating. Thankfully the helicopter drills ceased, and we had another quiet night for our rousing game of Catan.

     We left at first light and traveled down the waterway to Southport where we anchored during 'last light'. Seven years ago we had come to this anchorage and we were the only ones there. Us kids enjoyed playing on the beach in the sand. However, lots of boaters have found out about our secret, and we could hardly find room to anchor the boat. 

     We left at first light again for another long day in our quest to find warmth in the south. We've been having highs in the 30's and lows in the 40's and even though we just crossed in to South Carolina, the weather forecast is calling for a cold front to come into the area. Our friends in Oriental sent us a picture of snow that fell around their house yesterday, so winter seems to be chasing us down the coast. We've been planning to visit Dad's mom when we got to Charleston, SC, but we decided to go now to avoid the cold snap. We're leaving our boat at Osprey Marina, just south of Myrtle Beach.  We'll rent a car and drive to Hendersonville, NC, to be land-lubbers for a few days (and to enjoy the heated house).