St James Marina – At a dock




Everybody was paddling furiously!

  The boat was covered with live oak seeds in the morning so in view of Ann’s allergies, I hosed down the topsides before taking off. Passing through the bridge by Barefoot Landing, we radioed ahead to see if any barges (or boats) were headed in our direction. Receiving no reply, we headed north through the rock pile. It is, in fact, very narrow but if you stay in the middle you’ll have 12 ft MLW at least. There’s just no room to pass a barge and very little room to pass another boat – if you do it at all. One post on the internet said that if you do meet a barge you had better be very good at backing up – and at high speed to stay ahead of a barge.

Protected on all sides!

At any rate, we met no one and transited without a problem. The traditional trouble spots of shallow water have all been dredged so the way north was without the white knuckles of past visits.We passed several crews paddling in a “war canoe” type boat. A couple were racing each other, they sure employed a bunch of kids! I wonder if the war canoe type boat will be an Olympic event?

We’re staying at the St. James Marina which is actually a resort condo complex that accepts transients for overnight stays. It has meticulously manicured grounds and the dockage area is protected 360 degrees from wind and waves. It would qualify as a hurricane hole if the need arose.

Thursday we continue our route north and will probably stay at the Beach House Marina in Surf City, NC.