June 6 –
9
Again running on the ICW, First Mate had her first grounding in a
narrow, shallow channel called Bogue Sound. A sailboat in front of
us ran aground at the same time, but he soon got off. We tried. We
then called Seatow, but were able to get into deeper water before
they arrived, so we canceled them. We suspect they didn’t hurry
because we were at low tide and our chance of freeing ourselves was
good. The ICW runs right through the Marine base at Camp Lejeune.
For artillery firing and beach landing exercises, this part of the
ICW can be closed for hours or even a day. If the lights are flashing,
you shouldn’t be there. It hasn’t happened for years,
but some of the equipment they use is on shore. Upon arriving in Beaufort
we were assigned to the tightest slip the Captain has ever gotten
into; we had about 6 inches on each side after docking. They really
pack them in here. It also has the shortest finger pier we have seen;
we had to get on & off our aft deck by climbing the ladder from
the swim platform, even though we docked stern in. There was a major
blue marlin tournament the next week, the Big Rock, one of the biggest
on the east coast, and all marinas were full. We had called all of
them a few days before and were lucky to get the last slip here at
Town Creek. We dined and visited with the Captain’s family while
docked here. Met Donna & Ray, living aboard Shared Vision. They
saw our AGLCA burgee and invited us to a seminar covering the North
Carolina waterways, which was being presented by author Claiborne
Young. We went in their truck to Oriental, NC, a nearby fishing village.