But, actually the channel is narrow, and can be hard to pass without getting very close
On the east side you are close to the ocean
and the beaches...
And on the west side you are close to LOTS of homes
A couple of logs ago, I mentioned being docked next to Freedom...the sister ship to the Sequoia...we met her again in Wrightsville Beach
Our stop for the night was supposed to be Dockside Marina...but really it was a bar...with slips. note the sign that says "FUEL DOCK ONLY"
The log tells the story...but they ended up putting us at the fuel dock...where we stayed until morning
Log 182
Day 531
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
5:45 AM EST
Location: Dockside Marina & Bar; Wrightsville Beach, NC.
Weather: 54 degrees & light North winds
Sitting on the back deck this morning, there is no trace of light yet, but in a few minutes I should start to see some brightness in the east. We are sitting right on the ICW at Wrightsville Beach, NC. About a mile to the east is the coast, and there is a large beach community. But here, it is just marinas lining both sides of the ICW, and they are all full of boats.
Getting here...was an 86 mile run from Beaufort. Up at 4:30 yesterday, I was anxious to get going, and noticed that others were as well. My plan was to leave at first light, and I figured that would be about 5:45, so I wanted at least an hour to get ready. (Side note: If necessary, we could be ready to leave in just a few minutes, but I really enjoy the mornings, on the back of the boat, especially when we are cruising. So I get up as early as I can to make the coffee, plan the day, and watch the sun come up). As it turned out, I was not the only one with that plan. Normally delivery captains will leave at that time, but in this case 4 sail boats had that plan as well. So, when we untied the lines at 5:45, we were a part of 6 or 7 boats leaving the harbor, and others were not far behind.
I’ve discussed the ICW in these areas many times. It is a narrow road (of water) that is sometimes between very close shores, and other times in large lakes. Most of the time the channel is no wider than 120 feet, and no deeper than 15 feet. While I love traveling the ICW...it can be very stressful. You can not take your eye off the water for one minute. Those who do, will pay the price, and run aground. Almost every day we travel, you will hear someone calling Sea Tow, or Boat US, to get towed off a sand bar, or worse yet, get their boat towed back to a marina, because they have run aground, and damaged their boat. Anyway...our 86 miles yesterday was a nice ride, with no issues. Along those 86 miles we had to deal with 2 bridges that had to open to let us through. While this can be a pain to deal with, I have come up with a method to make it easier. What I do is put those bridges in my chart plotter as a “waypoint”...which is just a point on a map we are heading to. I put the waypoint exactly at the bridge, and “go to” that point on the plotter. What that does is give me exactly how far that bridge is away, and (at whatever speed I am currently running) how many minutes it will take me to get to the bridge. Because I know when the bridge is scheduled to open (like on the hour) I adjust my speed, up or down, so my chart plotter says I will reach the bridge as it is opening. Sometimes I have to go fast to make up some time...others I end up going at an idle for the last mile or so, to time the bridge so we don’t have to drive around in circles to wait for an opening. It does not always work perfectly, but most times it does.
We arrived at Wrightsville Beach at about 2 pm. I had called ahead to confirm our slip, and was told by Jeb (the dock master) that we would be docking right in front of a large sail boat that was on the face dock. When we got there I saw the sail boat he was talking about and pulled in front of him. While we were pulling in another guy (Brian) came out to help us. We asked him where he wanted us, and he said...right in front of this sail boat. After tying up, and washing down the boat, Deb and I walked in to check in. It was very confusing where to check in at, because this is also a bar/restaurant, and we didn’t see any marina office. When we went to the bar tender to ask where to check in at she asked us where the sheet of paper Brian gave us was...and was very surprised that he did not give us one. No problem she said, how long would did we want to dock for? Overnight? She seemed surprised by that, and then said, well...we’ll have to move you. What? She told me that we were at the fuel dock, and blocking others from getting gas. When I told her that’s where Jeb, and Brian, told us to go, she said “well...we’ll move your boat if someone comes for fuel”. She seemed even more surprised when I said “no”. To make a long story short...after a lot of conversation (with more than just the bartender, but neither Jeb, or Brian)...and her calling her manager, who said we needed to move...I told her we were going to stay where Jeb put us, unless Jeb came down and told me to put the boat somewhere else. We left the bar, and went back to the boat, fully expecting for someone to knock on the boat and tell us to move. But, that never happened. We stayed peacefully tied to that gas dock all night.
This morning...the sky is light now, but it’s very cloudy, so I can’t see any sun. While I have been writing this, a few boats have left their slips...but not as many as we normally see at this point. I just looked at the current flowing through here and it is against us, so maybe we’ll wait a little bit for it to change. We have about 63 miles to go to get to Myrtle Beach...our destination for the next couple of nights. The forecast calls for the clouds to go away, and for the sun to come out later, so I look forward to that. As much fun as cruising is...it always seems better when it sunny.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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