Up at dawn, 3 egg omelet, a piece of butter bread, and two cups of tea. By 7:30 am I’m underway and everything is just as it should be. I have a couple of known trouble spots to get by, but I’ve been this route before. One of the big inconveniences is that I have no reverse which makes waiting for a bridge opening problematic. At Wrightsville it was no big deal, the current was against me so having only forward was ok, but when I get to the Onslow Beach bridge, it was a problem… the current is pushing me toward the bridge and I have 30 minutes to kill waiting for the next opening, all I can do is make big circles and try to time my final circle so that I’m near the bridge when it finally opens. But no, this bridge tender is slow as molasses in February, I mean I thought the bridge was broken, that’s how slow, it took forever to start and then finally open. I guess I should be thankful it opened at all, I’ve been behind broken bridges that didn’t open again for 20 hours, so there is that. Once I get past Onslow Beach bridge, I see that I’ll be going by Swansboro around 3:00 pm and if my Grandchildren are visiting their cousins in Swansboro, I could wave at them from the boat as I pass. While I’m motoring towards a possible meeting place I get online and see if there are any parks on the water within shouting distance of the ICW, and I find one. I text my daughter and say if the kids are in Swansboro, can someone take them to Water’s Street? There is a park there at the end of that street that I can sail close to, I can get close enough to wave at each other and we’ll be able to see each other. Sure, is the reply, when will you be there, ‘I’ll be there at exactly 3:25’. OK, they say they know exactly where the park is. With my binoculars out I can see the park and a couple sitting on a bench, but I don’t see any children. I’m about 2 minutes away and I steer as close as I can get without running aground, the boat is about 25 feet off the edge of the park and I still don’t see the children. I pass by the park, but no kids, and with no reverse, I can’t easily stop and turn around, so I make the turn toward the Emerald Isle.
It’s a real bummer that I wasn’t able to see the kids. By the end of the day, I’m at Morehead City Harbor and near the ICW turn up Adam’s Creek. I pick a spot to anchor that is out of the traffic lanes and near Atlantic Beach and Fort Macon dropping the hook at 8:20 pm. While eating dinner I’m treated to two sets of fireworks displays, one near Atlantic Beach and another around Emerald Isle, the whole show is a real treat. My daughter Sarah texts me and says she is out watching Fireworks at the beach, ‘aren’t you jealous?’ I text, ‘No, I’m watching the same ones’ She says ‘where are you at?’, ‘I’m anchored across from Money Island Beach on the sound side’. ‘We are watching the same ones’. Since this is the last night of the cruise I got invited to the Captain’s table for dinner tonight. I heard that the head chef is preparing a special dinner… Chili-penne with peaches en la can. Yum, good eating at Cap’s table.