This is the main dock at Southport...these are 2 north bound transient boats at the fuel dock. They both passed us later in the day, on our way to Swan Point.
The ICW runs right alongside the Atlantic Ocean north of Southport. These fisherman are just off the ICW channel...and that truck is on the Atlantic Beach
You can also see that just off the channel is is very shallow...not a place to day dream
On our way through Wrightsville Beach it was very busy.
This is Swan Point Marina...not much to look at, but a welcome sight after 8 hours on the iCW
The wind was blowing so hard, I took the flag off the light stantion because I was afraid it would shake the stantion so much, it might damage the light bulbs
When we left Swan Point early on Thursday morning, the sun was just coming up
If you look closely at the picture of our chart plotter you can see the black boat, with a cross on it in the center (which represents the position of our boat at that moment). Just to the right of that is the sand bar we hit when we came through here in 1992. Instead of going straight up the channel, Steve turned right and headed for the other channel. The side story tells it all.
This military vessel was in the harbor at Morehead City, SC
In the Buefort Channel there was this military craft, and if you look out in the haze you can see a very large militay ship sitting out in the Atlantic
The town of Beaufort, SC has a big red bus that gives tours of the town
Deb found a cemetary where Cival War soldiers are buried
After the rain came through, there was an awesome sunset. It looked like something was on fire
This picture was taken from our boat, as we sit in our slip in Beaufort, SC
Log 132Day 359
Friday, May 15, 2009
8:30 AM EDT
Location: Beaufort Town Docks; Beaufort, SC.
Weather: 70 degrees with rain; forecasted to rain the next couple of days
I just got back from having breakfast (biscuits and gravy...not that great) at the local cafe, just a few feet from the bow of our boat, here in Beaufort (Bo-fort). It’s raining here this morning, and the radar shows lots of rain to follow. The detailed forecast says there is a good chance of rain until tomorrow afternoon. We are docked right downtown, about 200 feet from the main street. Very nice southern town that we have visited before, and really enjoy.
Wednesday...we left Southport, on the Cape Fear River, at first light on Wednesday morning. They had predicted strong winds, and they proved to be right. Just about 1/2 mile from our marina, we joined the Cape Fear River, and between the outgoing tide, and the strong winds, it was not a lot of fun to be out there. In just a few minutes the boat was wet, and covered with salt, and we pushed against the tide (and the wind) up the Cape Fear River for almost an hour, before turning a little NE and following the ICW in more protected waters. I had hoped we would be out of the wind, with easier going...but I was wrong. The ICW is so close to the Atlantic at this point (check the picture of the truck sitting on the beach) that the strong easterly winds blew over the beach and hit us hard, and it was like that all day. At about 11 am we passed through Wrightsville Beach, SC, and I almost stopped because I was tired...but we kept on going. We reached Sneads Ferry, SC, and our marina (Swan Point Marina) at about 2 pm, and I was ready to stop. The winds continued to howl from the east, and I even had to go take the flag off the top of the boat, because it was flapping so hard, I was afraid it would shake the light pole and damage the running lights. We also realized the wind had caused our dinghy cover to rip, and so I ended up taking it off, and storing it on the boat. After washing the boat, and checking in, we realized we did not want to stay more than one night at Swan Point (in the middle of no where, and more of a boat yard than a marina) but the weather did not look good, with wind and thunderstorms predicted for Thursday. When we went to bed, we figured we may not get to decide if we want to go...the weather may decide for us.
Thursday...up at 5:30 and quickly checking the weather, I determined we had a window to go the 46 miles to Beaufort before the rain and storms hit. The wind was still blowing out of the east, but not as bad as yesterday, and it was predicted to reach a high of 20 mph at Beaufort, but not until 2 pm. We could be in our slip by 11 am if we left right away, so I went and woke Deb (she’s amazing...I wake her, and tell her the story, and she says “let’s go”) and 15 minutes later we were leaving the dock, just as it was getting light out. The trip to Beaufort was much easier than the previous day. The winds were not as bad, and the waterway not as narrow...or shallow. After a fairly easy ride, we reached Beaufort at about 11am. Getting into our slip was a little tricky, because the tide and winds at the Beaufort were both strong, and the width between dock was not that big, but we got in with no damage to our boat, or our ego. We even had a fellow Looper (Darling) come over and said “I’m impressed...I couldn’t have done that”. After getting tied up, we checked in, and then walked into town for lunch. After lunch we washed the boat, just in time before the rains came, and it has been raining off and on since then.
Side story...in 1992 we were coming up the ICW, heading to Beaufort, delivering a friends 43 foot Vista (a Taiwanese Motor Yacht). On board with us were Steve and Chris Thoke (good friends for many years) and Terry and Jeanie Ruhland (Deb’s sister and brother in law). We were 10 days into a 2 week trip, delivering the boat from the west coast of Florida, to Philadelphia. Steve had been bugging me to drive the boat, but I kept telling him the waters were shallow and tricky. It was early in the morning on a bright beautiful day, and Steve, again, asked if I wanted him to drive. I looked at the charts, and looked ahead to see miles of very easy waterway to navigate, so I said “yes...you drive, and I’ll go get a quick shower”. When I came back up we were just going under the bridge that connects Morehead City to Bogue Banks (a couple miles SE of Beaufort), and there were markers everywhere. Steve was running wide open, and asked which way he should go, because the markers were confusing, and he was not sure which one was the channel (check out the picture of our chart plotter as we went by there yesterday). I told him I was not sure, because I just come up and had not looked at the charts. Steve made a quick decision to turn right, and head for a marker, and 5 seconds later, we hit a sand bar, and came to a complete stop, feeling like we had torn the complete bottom off the boat. What happened after that was a very interesting story in itself, but the bottom line was this: we were towed off the sand bar and into a marina; both shafts and props were bent (beyond repair according to some at the marina); we borrowed the a vehicle from the marina, took the shafts and props to Bucks Prop shop, and had both fixed by 10 am the next morning; we were leaving the marina by 2 pm that same day. It was a $4000 lesson, and a story we have told for the last 17 years.
From here...we plan to stay in Beaufort one more day, then leave tomorrow and head 22 miles to Oriental, SC...at the southwestern part of Pamlico Sound. We made reservations for 2 days in Oriental, but now, I don’t think we will stay the 2nd day, because the weather and winds are forecasted to switch to the NNE and blow 20+ mph, and you do not want to be on the Pamlico Sound with strong NE winds. My thought at this point is to head to Belhaven, SC, on the Alligator River and then see what the weather does later next week. The next big body of water we need to cross is the Albemarle Sound, and it can get nasty with stong winds, so we’ll just wait and see. At this point we are only 203 miles from Norfolk, VA, and 350 miles from Baltimore, where we want to be by June 13th. So we have plenty of time.
Today...it’s still raining, and looks like it will rain off and on all day. I need to go in the engine room, and check the water in all the batteries, as well as do some engine checks. Deb is doing some cleaning now, so maybe after we get done we will put on the rain coats and take a walk around town. I’ll bet they have a great cheeseburger somewhere within walking distance.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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