South from Morehead City the ICW runs straight down Bogue Sound, a very shallow body of water that we found to be quite un-interesting. The best thing about it was the sunny day with a cooling breeze to keep us comfortable. At the south end of Bogue Sound the water way is full of turns and twists through some narrow spots. There are 8 or 10 miles where the ICW passes through Camp LeJeune, a U.S. Marine Corps base. There are signs reminding boaters not to anchor or go ashore and some other subtle reminders like old tank and armored vehicle remains. There is also a section guarded by signs with lights that indicate a live artillery firing range. When the lights are flashing, boat traffic is stopped because firing is being carried out. On Wednesday, the next day, we heard radio traffic between a military guard boat and ICW traffic indicating a 3 hour delay for boater, because the “range was hot”.
At times during this section of the water way, we could see ocean surf rolling onto the beach, less than a mile from where we were cruising along behind the barrier islands. We had planned to do about 50 miles today, and looking ahead on the charts, that put us near a dredged basin within Camp LeJeune