On Jan. 13, 2017, we again took the ICW from Morehead City to an anchorage inside of Camp Lejeune.  The morning was chilly, but we have the right clothes.  We saw tons and tons of dolphins, which is always such a treat.  Sometimes they swim alongside the bow to catch the bow wave.  One surfaced right next to me when I was sitting in the cockpit; I heard it breathe and smelled its fish breath.  It was so cool.

We had another sunny and clear day, which was great.  Our biggest navigational concern on this day was the Camp Lejeune Security Zone.  They have live fire exercises in an area through which the ICW passes, and you have to call that morning to find out if you can safely pass through that day.  We lucked out–no bombing for us that day.

We anchored in Mile Hammock Bay, which is still within Lejeune’s borders.  It was a pretty utilitarian place with no scenic areas, but it worked.  We were all alone, which is always great.

The real entertainment started after dark, around 8 PM.  All of a sudden there was this huge roar, and the entire boat began to shake.  And I do mean shake.  We ran up top and saw two CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters in the sky directly over the mast.  They must have been practicing night landings and were completely blacked out.  The only reason we could see them was a bright moon.  They roared around for a couple of hours and fortunately stopped before we went to bed.

This day was 6 hours for 30.8 nm (35.4 statute miles).

You hope not to see this sign flashing as you approach.  And note it says to tune to AM 530.  Who the hell has an AM radio, let alone on a boat?

Pink boat to match pink house!