We left Georgetown on Friday and stopped in North Myrtle Beach on Friday night (April 2). The game of the day was "is that a crab pot, a bird or a submerged tree?" With flood stage water levels at high tide, there was a lot of debris in the channel. Waiting for the Barefoot Swing Bridge tender to decide we were close enough for her to open "upon request" we ran hard aground against the slate and rock that lines the channel there. Another bridge tender that could care less about the boats and probably wants to prove that she does not open the bridge one second too soon so as to cause auto traffic the least inconvenience. The Waterways manual said that the bridge was often left in the open position for long periods of time. Not. Ken was able to back out right away and we made it through the bridge and into the marina around the corner, Harborgate.
On Saturday we made it from North Myrtle Beach to Wrightsville Beach in one of our longest stretches yet (72 miles). We went out at Little River Inlet and re-entered at Cape Fear and continued up the ICW. As we made it past the US's largest ammunition depot, there were signs marking a restricted area (saying that there were mines in the water). Stayed away from there! As we called to find a marina in Wrightsville, they were all booked up due to the Easter weekend. We finally found an overnight tie-up with power and fuel at the dock in front of the Dockside Restaurant. The stretch of ICW from Carolina Beach to Wrightsville was the most congested strip we have seen with numerous power boats coming at us from all directions and leaving huge wakes that often rocked us from the front, back and both sides all at once. In spite of the pretty strict enforcement of no-wake zones elsewhere, they were obviously a joke here. It reminded me of the old time Daytona Beach spring break with lots of bikinis (only add big power boats to the testosterone and beer)!
On Sunday, we left before dawn and backtracked a few miles to the Masonboro Inlet and made the outside run to Beaufort Inlet. We hit fog just as we entered the narrowest point in the inlet (and it was very narrow--not an inlet to use unless very good conditions). With our radar and depth meter we poked around to find out way out to the ocean, blasting our air horm periodically in case other boats were coming through ( it was hard to distinguish boats/rocks/waves on the radar read). About one mile outside the inlet, the fog lifted and we had a beautiful day for most of the trip. We stayed out of the restricted zone where Camp LeJeune practices shelling but did cut across the danger zone next to it! About 3 hours from Beaufort, winds picked up and the water became progressively rougher with bigger waves, whitecaps and swells. In the actual channel of the Inlet, the water was almost boiling with the ebb tide and the opposing wind. We stayed at the Morehead City Yacht Basin Marina. Fabulous dinner at Chef 105--definitely a place to eat at in the future. The marina was easy to get into, good help to dock--much easier than the infamous Beaufort Docks! This was the most miles we covered in one day-over 80 miles.
Monday, we made the rather easy trip from Morehead City to River Dunes. It was so good to put Patina back in her slip. Had to make a rushed trip to Bayboro (by truck) to get the truck inspected and new stickers for the license plates as they had expired while we were gone. Back at River Dunes, Hank and Christa were on their boat and we had a drink to celebrate our safe arrival.
There will be details, anedotes, photos and more in future blog posts.
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