Herds of Migrating Sailors are In the Army Now

Living in Sewage

Last night as you can well believe from yesterday's post gave us problems with anchor setting.

Try as we might the old CQR would not take hold and when Meredith revved up to 1500 in reverse we pulled free everytime. We were forced to resort to tough measures.

We carry a Fortress anchor with 15 feet of chain for just these little problems. Shackle the fortress to the head of the CQR, drop the Fortress over the bow followed by its chain, followed by the CQR and proper scope and voila: It could have blown 150 mph last night. We were not moving.

The removal of the fortress showed why the CQR was reluctant to set: the bottom consisted of a very fluid black paste comprised almost exclusively of raw and partly treated sewage. No kidding. Obviously the very expensive homes around the little bay could not afford monthly sewage charges so about 45 homes are dumping direct into a protected little body of former water. Things were probably manageable until the condo went up this year adding 40 of the 45 homes.

The Budget Committee washed the deck with bleach solution.

In the Army

Running Bogue Sound, which is really Onslow Bay but is separated from its parent by a small strand of land, takes you to Camp Lejeune. Camp Lejeune is a military site used for live fire training exercises and gunnery. The sign pictured above warns you quite simply that if you enter the camp when the lights are flashing you will blown up.

Traversing the camp can be interesting. There are remnants of bombed out vehicles such as these pictured all along the Camp waterway. Here is a missile launcher and some formerly turreted vehicle.









Is It Herd Instinct or Pioneer Spirit

Sailors pride themselves on their rugged iconoclasm. True individuals we. When we pulled into Mile Hammock Bay there was one boat at anchor. Thirty minutes later we had 9 boats anchored or positioning. And it was only 12:30 p.m. The video confirms and, yes, that is another Cabo Rico anchored just behind us.

There may be more to this herd thing than one is prepared to admit. At least we were first in. If it is a pack animal I am then best to be lead dog.




This actually arises from one problem with this section of the ICW: anchorages are inconveniently spaced. In a sailboat you are limited to about 40 miles of travel per day as the anchorages are 40 miles apart. We find 80 miles brings us into an anchorage after dark (daylight starts at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m.)