Monday saw Rudy leaving to drive to Wilmington to fly home at about 5 o’clock in the morning. It was sad watching him leave, and a little scary “being on my own” again. But not yet….
My friends C. L. and Cora Varvel joined me for part of the day. We left Portside Marina in Morehead City, and went out to Shackleford Island with hopes of seeing some wild ponies. The ponies were brought by the Spanish before the United States came into being, and some of the ponies’ descendents still live on Shackleford Island.
The currents through the cut were treacherous, but, we went over to the NPS dock, and looked for awhile. We finally saw a couple at a distance, and Cora managed to get a photo or two… a pretty good trick from a bouncing boat of a pony far enough away it was hard to see with the naked eye!
Then we returned to the ICW and cruised down to the town of Swansboro, NC where I took on a little fuel at Casper’s Marina, and C.L. and Cora got off to catch a ride back up to their vehicle.
They were doing live fire exercises at Camp LeJeune, which means they close the ICW to traffic during certain times. I timed my transit to pass through during a temporary opening, and nervously watched to see if any red laser dots appeared on the vessel.
I anchored for the night with about twenty other boats in Mile Hammock Bay, 34 33.092N 77 19.417W, where I slept in the salon, listening for the anchor alarm. The wind shifted directions and blew upwards of 25 kts, and the bottom must be super great for holding, since we swung a full 360, and an additional 270 with passing storms. No one in the harbor drug. That is great holding bottom!
This looks like LA a skimmer!
In the morning, I timed my departure to meet the bridge openings, and was surprised by a 2.2mph current pushing me ahead. Note that this mariner finally switched to statute miles, and mph, because the math got too complicated to figure my times when the entire ICW is in statute miles rather than nautical miles. Oh well.
The two days passed through marshland, and woodlands, and eventually into more sandy areas.
Lots of nests through here
As a started to pass Carolina Beach State Park, I could see a beautiful marina on the inside, I decided to telephone them to get the controlling depth, even though all my books said it was too shallow to enter. Glad I did! The marina has recently been renovated, with 50 amp electrical service, gorgeous floating docks that provided a 40’ dock on one side, and a piling on the other, with the main dock at your stern. The channel was recently dredged, and the cost was $30/night. I was the only patron in the marina.
The place to myself!
Mercy and I went ashore and spent an hour and a half walking the trails through the woods and swamp and beach, and then retired to a warm and cozy boat in our own private marina!
Nice trails
In the late morning we departed for a short trip down to Southport, NC. 33 54.969, 78 01.391
Enroute, while being overtaken by a local ferry, I noticed a trawler side-sea, which was a pretty nasty state to be in since the Cape Fear River had a wind bucking the current. I called the Queen, a Mainship, who told me he’d gotten bad fuel, and was anchored. I informed him his anchor was dragging, and offered to tow him out of the channel. He asked me to stand by, which I did, and he got his engine going long enough to pick his anchor up before it died again. I suggested that instead of anchoring, he pass me a line so that he’d have a smoother ride to work on his fuel problems while under tow. I hooked up a bridle, and went by and caught a line from him, and headed towards Southport at about 1000 rpms while he worked on his fuel problem. He cranked up again right off Southport, and I cut him loose. His engine stalled again, and he called Boat US to bring him into the dock at Southport.
Meanwhile, I followed the advice of Izzy R, and went into Southport, NC, where I was greeted by Robert Creech, of the C Life, and a resident of Southport. He directed me into a free dock at the Provision Company, caught my lines, and helped me get tied up. He pointed out his home and vessel to me, and gave me instructions to call or come up if I needed anything. It sure is fun meeting nice people! I walked up in the early evening and enjoyed sitting on the front porch and visiting with Robert and Kay, southern style!
They are cruising south the Keys after the first of the year, and I hope I can return the hospitality.
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