Oct. 20-21, 2025 Onward to Beaufort, NC then Timing the Onslow Bridge

Mon. Oct 20, 2025 Pungo Creek Anchor to Homer Smith Marina 68 miles and 7.0 hours

Winds are still up in the morning, but forecasted to die down. Anchor and chain takes a bit of extra washing off as we raise it. It had dug in pretty well with the tugging from the wind and changing wind direction. But always better doing extra washdown than scrambling in the dark because of dragging. We head out down the Pamlico River. Nasty bit of chop and wind blown spray. We decide to just get it over with quickly and put the boat up on plane to smooth things out. Worked great. Times like these are where it's nice to have a boat with the extra power. Cuts our time down crossing the river and provides a smoother ride. Head into the protection of Goose Creek cut. Nice natural areas on both sides. We get passed by Ziggy, a very new style 102' Ocean Alexander. Captain radios us "Nice to see another OA out on the water". Then he's gone! Also get passed quickly by a pair of brand new and also very large Viking Sportfishing boats. Suspect they all may be headed to the Fort Lauderdale boat show that starts the end of the month. We always get our geographic bearings through this cut as it's the location of RA Mayo Seafood docks. Simply impossible to miss the old wharf and shrimp boats.

Goose Creek cut

Shrimp boats at RA Mayo Seafood

Winds have settled down by the time we hit the Neuse River so no need to speed up. We just work our way around a few other boats going slightly slower while in the open water. Then it's a run through Adams Cut toward Beaufort, NC. A bit of an extended slow down for a no wake zone because of development along the banks. Every house with a dock and a center console on a lift. Make it to Homer Smiths Marina and receive their customary warm welcome. Our reservation is for one night and we had hoped to extend it to two. We won't find out until tomorrow if he can accommodate us. All depends on any cancellations. Marina has three brand new and free to use washers and dryers, as well as a courtesy vehicle. Great captains lounge with free cold water and coffee. New private tiled bathrooms and showers. And of course, a great town with history, museums, restaurants and bars. All we can do is hope for a cancellation.

Journey for Oct. 20, 2025

Tues. Oct. 21, 2025 Homer Smiths to Mile Hammock Anchorage 45 miles and 5.7 hours

We are waiting and hoping for a cancellation and trying to stay busy in the meantime. Give the boat a quick rinse to get rid of some salt buildup. Use the pumpout since it's right at our dock and then top off the water tank. Martha takes advantage of the free laundry. At 10AM we get the dreaded call from the dockmaster. No cancellations. We prep for our departure keeping in mind the schedule for the Onslow Bridge. The new bridge has been under construction for well over two years. Throughout that time the old bridge has been on a reduced opening schedule. Open from 5PM to 8 AM, then maintained open from noon to 1PM. My plan had been to leave the marina at noon to catch the bridge when it reopens at 5PM. I phone the bridgetender to confirm the schedule. He says they started opening on the hour whenever possible but could always fall back to the posted schedule depending on the work crew's needs. With leaving at 11AM we can only hope there are no issues with a 4PM opening. Otherwise, we'll need to idle in position for an hour in a relatively narrow channel with current and limited wind protection. We leave the dock at 11 thinking it should be a good day on the flybridge with temperatures into the 70's.

Fishermen anchored on a honey hole as we depart the Beaufort/Morehead area

Exposed marshlands stretch to the ocean as we cross around Onslow Bay

As we're crossing the long wide open Onslow Bay passage that decision looks like a bad one. The wind is blowing straight at us and we're now having to get bundled up. Eventually we succumb and head below to the comfort of the pilothouse. Call the bridgetender while underway and he says he has been opening on the hour today if boats are waiting. We finally get off Onslow Bay and into some more protected waters. Problem now on this nice sunny day is we are staring straight at the sun and glare off the water. Always seems to be something. We make it to the bridge at 4 and after a short wait he opens at precisely 4 PM. A short half hour later and we're in the anchorage. Just three boats here. We pick a spot and drop anchor. It doesn't feel like it's grabbed securely. In this exposed anchorage with winds expected to 30mph we need a good set. We pull it up and move over. Drop it again. It's just too shallow. Depth alarm is going off and we're not even at low tide. Up anchor again and the third time is a charm. We feel it grab then let out some extra rode. Couple more boats arrive after the 5 PM bridge opening but it's still a relatively small crowd compared to some of the other times we anchored here.