The Best Laid Plans...

Boys and their toys...

I had intended to wake up early and run 40+ miles to the anchorage at Mile Hammock, inside Camp Lejeune, the marine base. But I slept in (NO!), and thus only made it as far as Bogue Inlet. There I joined all the power boats that had passed me during the day - turns out the ICW is closed as the Marines are running a live fire exercise and have closed off the ICW for the day.
It's pretty amazing to hear the sound of artillery booming in the distance. It gives you a feel for what our parents/grandparents went through during the war years. For now, here's a look at a few of the boys and girls with their toys.

The boys and girls with their toys

I wanted to tell you a bit about Beaufort NC today, since I didn't have time earlier. 
Beaufort is the first major ocean access harbour on the ICW, if you don't count Norfolk, at its head. Most of the traffic now is sportfishermen, recreational boats and the occasional freighter. It's also the first location where you run into substantial tide and current. Those three feet (approx) of tide create a very strong current that affects how you anchor and how and where you put your rode down. Holding in the anchorage is good though, so once you've done a proper job of backing down, you can safely nod off. 
The waterfront is one of the nicer ones on the ICW, with a good number of decent pubs overlooking the Beaufort waterfront along its boardwalk. Opposite the waterfront is Radio Island - on occasion you'll see wild horses there, although I never have for some reason. Beaufort is also where I usually see my first dolphins on every trip south. And for real wildlife, there's my friend Will and his lime green cat!

Lime green cat - it sails much better than it looks...

Two major downtown Beaurort highlights are the Maritime Museum and the Wooden Boat Building museum, where they actually build wooden boats. The Maritime Museum has an amazing library with thousands of out of print nautical titles, and probably something for everyone.  The Maritime Museum at one time used to have a loaner car for transients - that service is no longer, thanks to lawyers and lawsuits making it prohibitively expensive to do so. 
That's unfortunate, because shopping is too far to walk - as is a propane refill, which is truly unfortunate, because the tank for my boat heater JUST RAN OUT, and it's going to be chilly tonight. I'll have to hook up the cooking propane. Fortunately, I'll be in Wrightsville Beach tomorrow, and they DO have a loaner car and the propane refill store is very close.

Beaufort, where I usually see my first dolphins on every trip south.

So it's time for some supper, and then I have to write this week's Write on the Water entry for tomorrow. For those of you who haven't checked the site out yet, there's some interesting boating and writing themed material to be found there, and where I post twice a month. 
Tomorrow, up early for the 50 plus mile run to Wrightsville Beach, which takes forever due to four bridges that only open on the hour or half hour. Care to guess who keeps missing these bridges by just minutes?
You got it, in one!