80 miles to Beaufort MM202

This was another pretty leg of the trip, we made it to Beaufort in 2 days.  Our stopping point was Swansboro, which was 53 miles away.  We departed Wrightsville Beach around noon time Thursday.  Full of fuel and with Louis on lunch duty we were off having a great day.  Heading north we passed Figure Eight Island, Topsail Beach and Surf City .  Surf City has a 12′ swing bridge so this is an area most boats have to request an open.  You pass through parts of Camp Lejeune which is very cool, you can hear them blowing things up and can see military personnel on the banks of the ICW.  There is one section they have old combat tanks they have used for target practice from across the ICW just sitting there all shot to pieces.  Onslow is a town you pass just after Camp Lejeune and they also have a 12′ swing bridge that will gladly open for you.

On from Swansboro we took the ICW north passing Bogue Sound, here we could see Indian Beach, Emerald Isle Beach and Atlantic Beach.  Morehead City, Beaufort, Ft. Macon State Park and Shackleford Banks are all neighboring areas here. We arrived at Beaufort around 10:45AM.  Beaufort was known as “Fish Town” in the early 1700’s when Blackbeard frequented the coast, “Beaufort Town” was established as a seaport with the right to collect customs in 1722. During the American Revolution, it was the third largest port in the state.  We got a slip at Beaufort Town Docks and we are right on the downtown boardwalk!  The town docks have a fleet of Station Wagons so if you need a vehicle while here they will loan any of them out