getting close to home

Well we eventually got to Mile Hammock Bay. The weather was a just a bit better than that of our trip into Wrightsville Beach. It was only blowing 20 kts on the nose and a little cold (see picture of Terri). Mile Hammock Bay has an interesting history. It is just on the edge of Camp Lejeune, the Marines training base. It is a small bay and in one corner of it there is an old derelict ship (see picture). This ship was used during WW2 to train the Marines for amphibious landings. The slung cargo nets down the side and the lads scrambled down into waiting landing crafts. The bay is still used to this day as a training venue for the leathernecks. After you leave Mile Hammock heading north you cross the Marines shooting range where they do live ammo firings across the waterway. There is a large sign with lights on it that states: “If the lights are flashing do not enter, live fire in progress.” We did not see the lights flashing, although I am told they also station a patrol boat to block passage. We did hear some low thumping farther inland, so I guess they were shooting something (inland of course). From Mile Hammock we had a long day, doing over 60 miles to Oriental, NC. Oriental is a delightful town of 900 persons with 3000 boats. It is truly the boating capital of NC. If it has something to do with boating you can get it in Oriental. We also visited again with George & Mary Duffie, who we met on the way down. They are fellow Tartan 34C owners. We went to dinner with them and I had a quintessential southern dish called shrimp and grits. Now before you go ugggh let me say it was mighty tasty. The shrimp were sautéed along with some onions and sausage then laid over a bed of grits mixed with cheese.

We stayed in Oriental for two day but are making tracks again. One jump to the Pungo River, then the next jump to the mouth of the Alligator River, staying at the Alligator Marina where I am typing this post. We are hold up here waiting for better weather, like in no thunderstorms and rain. We need to cross the Albemarle Sound which can get kinda testy if the wind is blowing hard from the east. Big waves that are close together. We are now less than 90 miles from Norfolk, but will slow down and smell the daises as we traverse the Dismal Swamp Canal once again. After that if all goes well, like in weather, we will be home in three days. Gosh it seems like only yesterday that we left. We are like horses coming back to the barn, running full tilt.