Morehead City and Surf City

We left Belhaven bright and early Friday in glass-like water. We stopped at RE Mayo Seafood for our first fuel stop, added 160 gallons, and bought some grouper and shrimp. I posted a lot more about RE Mayo last year so won't repeat in this entry. After RE Mayo, we went down the Neuse River which, like the Albemarle, can be really dicey in high winds. We were originally going to anchor in Beaufort, NC but decided to anchor in Morehead City to save about 30 minutes the following day.

RE Mayo

Our anchorage in MHC wasn't bad. We had a beautiful view of the 'skyline' and the boat traffic non-existent after a nice sunset. There were three derelict sailboats and we anchored between two of them. We thought about going ashore but decided to just chill on the boat for the night.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early again and headed to Surf City. The Bogue Sound stretch of the ICW has a couple of shoaling spots and for boats with a deeper draft, should be timed with a favorable tide. We never saw any depths less than 8 ft but a trawler behind us that draws 6 ft scraped the bottom in two separate areas.

The next 'caution area' is at Camp LeJeune. We didn't bother calling the base to see if there was going to be a live fire exercise since it was both a Saturday and Thanksgiving weekend. We managed to time the Onslow Beach Bridge and arrived exactly at 1100 for it's opening. Whew!

Last year we stayed at Topsail Island Marina. The marina is now closed to transients and isn't even staffed anymore. We decided to try Sears Landing Grill and Boat Docks on the other side of the waterway right before the bridge. The channel is very narrow and very shallow. We 'tip-toed' through the channel, never saw anything less than 6 ft and tied up without any problems. They have a nice floating dock although we were a tad too large for the slip. At $36/night including electric, bathroom and shower (which we didn't need), you can't beat it! 

My sister picked us up and took her to her house for the next two nights. After checking the weather, we decided to stay put until Wednesday morning. We always have a great time with Wendy and Jeff. Unfortunately Wendy had to work Sunday but that didn't stop Sharon, Jeff and I from having a good time! We went to High Waters Sport Bar and Grill for a bucket of beers and a tray of wings to go.

Wendy keeping Food Lion safe and handing out masks. lol

High Water Sports Bar and Grill

Although we weren't going to be offshore in 38 mph winds, we felt it
prudent to enjoy a couple more days with Wendy and Jeff -- win/win!

We took advantage of the time to get multiple loads of laundry washed and had a vehicle to get some fresh produce, groceries and run some errands. Sharon was able to get some interior boat cleaning done and decorated Ka'Why Knot for Christmas One of the best parts of cruising is seeing friends and family along the way!! 

Dinner at Sears Landing