The next 3 pictures are of a pontoon bridge on the ICW. The bridge actually sits on that platform with the house on it, and it swings out of the way every hour when boats need to go through.
You can see the actual piece of the bridge on the pontoon
When the boats clear they will hook up the bridge to the road again
There are a fair amount of shrimp boats along the waterway
Our dock in Southport Marina
One of many homes built in the 1800's in Southport
Deb's hair spot in Southport
Not much to look at...but a nice stop for a beer
They said 5 guys pulled up in this boat, just before it sank. They're all in jail now.
Deb...hanging out with the locals
Just past our marina is the Cape Fear River...in the backround
Log 131Day 357
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
4:45 AM EDT
Location: Southport Marina; Southport, NC
Weather: 67 with NE winds @ 10; Forecasted 75, and windy today (NNE @ 15 to 25)
Still a fairly full moon out this morning. It’s dark, but the sky looks clear, and I can see a few stars out. The winds are already gusting a little, as I can feel the boat shift in the slip. Southport Marina is almost full, as many transient boats are here, some coming in just before dark. Lots of captains running the boats hard, to get them up north for the summer.
Getting here...it’s a 37.3 mile run from Myrtle Beach, SC, to Southport, NC. Most of the ICW is deep, and the navigation if fairly straightforward. The charts and guide books point out several shoals along the way, and I was very careful in those areas, but did not really find the shallow spots they were talking about. But, we also made the run on a rising tide, so that helped (from a depth standpoint). There is only one bridge along the way that we needed to worry about and they call it a pontoon bridge. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but the bridge sits on a pontoon, and once an hour (if there is any boat traffic that needs to get through) they pull the pontoon over with a cable, and the whole bridge moves to one side. Amazing. The good news is they are constructing a very large bridge to replace it...I’m assuming it will be 65 foot vertical clearance to allow sail boats to pass under. It was at this bridge that several boats stacked up...all waiting to go north bound. 2 of these boats were big trawlers (45 to 50 feet), and they were a real pain for us to travel with them. We kept getting in one another’s way, because they would go slow and I would pass them, then they would speed up, and want to pass us. Finally I just slowed down to let them pass, and stayed behind them. One of them (Terralee) did not pay much attention to no wake areas, and you could hear (on the radio) folks hollering at them in many areas. Another one (Lady M) ended up behind us, and followed us to our marina here at Southport. We arrived about noon.
The town...Southport is a nice small town. It’s a 4 block walk to the main street, and all along the way you are passing homes that were built in the 1800’s. Many (actually most) of them have plaques on them telling who the original owner was, and what year they were built. It was surprising to me that most of them look to be in very good shape. As we were walking main street Deb saw a hair salon, that said they welcomed walk ins...so that is what she did. She decided to get her hair cut, and I walked to a place called Ocean Outfitters (a great place with lots of Columbia type clothes). I also walked the town and found the 2 local hot spots restaurant/bars. One was called Fishy Fishy (semi nice spot on the water with decks over looking the docks. And Provision Company...a VERY rustic spot that sits on the water, and is definitely a spot where the locals hang out. We had a beer there, and listened to everyone tell one another how smart they were. Back at the marina (which by the way, is fairly new, and very nice) we worked on some boat chores; had meat loaf for dinner; and watched 2 episodes of 24. Southport is definitely a nice stop.
Today...we are going about 65 miles up the waterway to Swan Point Marina in Little River, NC. It’s interesting...most folks think the east coast line goes north and south, but if you are following the coast (and the ICW) when you are in the lower states you travel NW, and as you get to the Carolinas you travel NE. In some cases (like today) we will be traveling almost east. You don’t really think about it (or care) unless you spend all day looking at maps, and charts, like I do. Anyway...to get there we will join the Cape Fear River, which is just about 1/2 mile east of here, and head NE up that river, before veering off and following a long “ditch” of protected water up to Little River, NC, The good news is we are at low tide, and so the tide will be rising and pushing us up the river for a while. The bad news is the wind is coming from the NE, and will be blowing directly against the tide, and that is never good. I want to get out of here as early as possible, before the winds get even higher, later this morning.
Well...it’s not quite light out yet, but the eastern sky is beginning to show some signs of light. The wind continues to gust a little, and I am anxious about what the conditions on the Cape Fear River will be. As soon as I finish this log, I will be getting the boat ready to head out. It should be a great day.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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