Saturday,
May 18, 2013. We left the dock at
Barefoot Marina in Myrtle Beach at 7:45 this morning. It was 70 degrees and the sun was shinning and the wind was SW at
5. Beautiful morning and the tide was
with us. We had no issues until exactly
noon, when as we were passing Lockwoods Folly Inlet (what a name!) we touched
bottom. We were on the red buoy side of
the channel as Skipper Bob and Active Captain suggest and it was half tide. Maybe next time we’ll try the center of the
channel. We made Southport, our goal
for the day at 2pm and decided to continue on.
We were making good spped all day, but going up the Cape fear River from
Southport, we made 8+ knots over the ground with the current and wind helping,
as well as the sails. We hit the end of
the flood tide on the Cape Fear River and managed to keep the current with us
all the way to Carolina Beach (our second goal) – arriving there at 4pm. We decided to continue on again (the current
still in our favor) and were anchored at Wrightsville Beach at 6pm. All in all, a very good day on the
water! 71 SM, 55 NM today. Wrightsville Beach 34°12.36’N 077° 48.02’W. Mile Marker 283.
Sunday,
May 19, 2013. Anchor up at 7am and
headed back to the inlet at Shinn Creek.
Partly sunny and 74 degrees. No
wind. For the record, it is 40 minutes from the anchorage to the Wrightsville
Beach Bridge, which only opens on the hour.
We made the 8am opening, and in fact had to wait an extra 10 minutes for
an ambulance to get across the bridge.
The
Honeysuckle is in bloom and the ICW smells like a florist shop. Nice.
The Osprey are just hatching out here.
In Florida, the chicks are already as big as pigeons, but here, they are
brand new, or the mom is still egg sitting.
The
ICW here is very wide, but the channel is very narrow. The water either side of the channel may be
a mile wide and a foot deep.
There
were eight boats in the anchorage last night, and we saw two head offshore out
of the inlet, but where did the rest of them go?
At
New River Marina, gasoline is $3.12 and diesel is $3.96. Cheapest we have seen.
We
made all three bridges today (Wrightsville Beach, Figure Eight Island and Surf
City) with no delays.
Today,
the current was against us all day (making up for yesterday), but the wind
picked up from the south in the afternoon
and we made good time motorsailing.
We arrived at Mile Hammock Bay (Camp Lejune, NC) at 2:45pm. There is one other sailboat here. By evening 3 other boast have anchored. The Marines are not around, except for
helicopters buzzing us. 39.8NM, 48.5SM
today. Mile Marker 244.5 34°
33.04’ N 077° 19.53’W.
Monday,
May 20, 2013. We had the anchor up
and were underway at 8am. Partly
cloudy, no wind, 75 degrees. It rained
and was very wind overnight. WE made
the Onslow Beach Bridge at its 8:30 opening and then through the Camp Lejune
Artillery Range successfully.
The
current was against us until the Onslow Beach Bridge and then turned in our
favor, The wind picked up from the SW @
10-15. With just the headsail out and
the motor idling, we were making 8.8 knots over the ground through Bogue
Sound. We raced through Moorhead City
and into Adams Creek. Believe it or
not, we were passed by another sailboat (Autumn Voyager) with Bob and Judy
aboard (didn’t get their last name). They winter in Hilton Head and then head north to Long Island
Sound to see grandkids in the summer.
At he
entrance to the Neuse River, we saw at least 20 dolphins feeding.
We
arrive in Oriental, NC at Oriental Marina at 4:30pm. We like this place. It is
a marina, a hotel, a bar and a restaurant.
Also, very protected. The couple
in the next slip are from Annapolis.
Dan and Melissa Kenshalo on Slow Dancing. They are taking another couple with them from here on their (the
other couple’s) honeymoon. They have
known them a long time.
Dinner
at the Toucan Grill (at the marina).
Very nice.
53NM,
63SM today. Mile Marker 181.5
35°01.48’N 076°41.73’W
Tuesday,
May 21, 2013. Left the dock at 10am
after taking care of some business at home.
Nice to be where there was great internet and phone service and they
even let us use their fax machine. We
left some mail with them for the US Postal Service as well. Very helpful folks.
It is
partly cloudy and 75. The wind is SW at
10-15, but there are some very dark clouds on the western horizon. The wind gives us a nice push and we sail
north on the Neuse River to Goose Creek.
As we enter the creek, the showers start and the Coast Guard is on get
that far north today, and the storms are movinf northeast away from us, but we
are still getting showers. As we reach
the Pamlico River, the skies brighten a bit and the wind shift to the west and
dies down to 5-10 knots.
We
anchor in Pungo Creek, just west of Bellhaven, NC, at 5pm as the sky starts to
clear. It turns out to be a lovely
evening with a cool dry breeze. 40.5NM
45SM today. Mile Marker 136.5 35°
30.48’N 076° 39.21’N
Wednesday,
May 22, 2013. Anchor up at
8:15am. There were 5 boats anchored
here last night and we are the last one out.
Wind is SW at 15 and it is beautiful.
Sunny and 70. We make great time
to the Alligator-Pungo Canal. The canal
is much cleaner than when we were going south through here. At that time is was full of debris from
Hurricane Sandy. We did, however “bump”
something. There was 17 feet of water
at the time, so it was probably a sunken log or something.
As we
enter the Alligator River, the wind has built to 15-20, but is right on our
stern and we make great time to the mouth of the river and through the
Alligator River Bridge. We are in the
Alligator River Marina and refueled at 4pm.
We will sit here on the face dock out of the wind this evening and then
try to cross Albermarle Sound tomorrow morning.
We
met some folks from a couple of different boats at dinner at the café here in
the marina. The was Bob Binge (owner of
a recently purchased Symbol trawler, Pendragon, in NC) and his paid captain
Pete Peterson. They are taking the boat
north to Sandusky, Ohio. We also met
Tom McGarry, who is single-handing an Ericson 38, Ventrail Magh, north to the Chesapeake. He ran hard aground at the dog-leg turn from
the Alligator River to Albermarle Sound damaging his rudder. SeaTow rescued him and then ran his boat
into the dock here in the marina damaging his pulpit. Not his best day on the water.
I had a glass of wine with him this evening. Nice guy.
Dinner
in the restaurant was fried seafood.
Fresh and very good. This is a
nice little marina with fuel, dockage, showers, laundry and a store. The folks are very helpful. Reminds me a bit of Coinjock. A good location if you need to hide after a
day on the Sound or the Alligator River. Cheap diesel too!
52SM,
46NM today. Mile Marker 84.5 35°54.34N 076°01.76’W
We
heard from Autumn Borne and they are in Norfolk. We also heard from Nite Cap and they should be in Deltaville this
evening.
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