Sailing Mystic Hearts

Day 7: Oriental, NC to Mile Hammock Bay, NC; 55.7 Nautical Miles

We left before sunrise from our anchorage on the Neuse River in Oriental, NC for a 9.5 hour cruise down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to Mile Hammock Bay, NC, which is just outside Camp Lejeune. Dolphins greeted us as we passed Morehead City and we dropped the hook just before sunset.

There’s no shore access at Mile Hammock Bay due to its location at a military base, which is fine with us. We enjoy the size of the anchorage and the ability to comfortably anchor here away from other boaters in a pretty protected location.

Day 8: Mile Hammock Bay, NC to Carolina Beach, NC; 43.8 Nautical Miles

We left at sunrise on January 3rd to get to Carolina Beach as early as possible. When we last visited in spring 2022, we stopped for doughnuts at a local shop by the boardwalk, but didn’t have a chance to grab dinner while in town. This time we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time for a stroll and good meal.

We arrived in Carolina Beach in the afternoon, picked up our mooring ball, got the dinghy in the water, and headed into town. The Carolina Beach boardwalk isn’t very long, but there’s a concentration of shops and restaurants nearby that give the downtown a distinct cozy beach vibe. After taking an obligatory picture on the beach (it was surprisingly not super cold for January!), we passed by Carolina Smokehouse, a BBQ restaurant right next to the beach. Complete with a rooftop for dining, we knew we had to stop here. I enjoyed a BBQ sandwich with corn on the cob and French fries and Paul had the slider sampler (pork, chicken, and beef brisket) with baked beans and fried mac and cheese bites. Everything was delicious.

Since we had been traveling for 8 straight days up until this point, we took day 9 as a rest day and further enjoyed our time in town with a long walk on the beach and through the neighborhoods.

Day 10: Carolina Beach, NC to Little River, SC; 45.2 Nautical Miles

After a full day of rest in Carolina Beach, it felt good to get on the move again. We pulled in to the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club (this was now our 3rd stay at this marina), but were annoyed at the location of our slip for the night. They didn’t assign our slip until we were pulling into the channel for the marina and confirmed our slip on a dock we were unfamiliar with. With our boat being close to 50 feet long, the fairway that led to our slip was barely wider than the length of our boat. With no bow thrusters on Mystic Hearts, this made us anxious for leaving the following morning because we would want no wind and a perfect getaway. Spoiler: Paul backed up our boat like a boss when it was time to leave, but we literally only had 2-3 feet of clearance on both our stern and bow.

While in Little River, we visited with Paul’s Dad at Paul’s Uncle’s nearby home. It was good to visit since we weren’t able to see him at Christmas. We ordered pizza and caught up on 2 loads of laundry. As cruisers, I’m grateful we are able to make stops like this to see family and get necessary chores done.