Dowry Creek Marina - at a dock

 

The place is packed! More came in after this picture was taken.

After a quiet night at RE Mayo, we started north again and arrived at Dowry Creek Marina around 1:00 pm or so. A lot of people had the same idea and the place is packed! The owner told me that every slip available was taken. He said it was the first time that had ever happened. 

Here’s the agenda for the seminar 5/8/2022

The driving force behind the demand is the cold front coming down with 25 to 35 kt winds for the next three days at least. The first window we see for leaving Dowry Creek is Thursday and more probably Friday. That’s a long time to sit in a marina, even one as nice as Dowry Creek. 

To provide entertainment for the ones holed up with us, I’ll be holding seminars on topics of general interest for cruisers such as using Bob423 tracks, tips on the use of Aqua Map, and other similar topics each day at 3:00 pm. If we’re holed up together, we might as well use the time constructively. 

So we will be watching the weather report and seeing what day is best to leave. Until then, it’s the seminars, fixing the boat up (are boat chores ever done??), can catching up on Waterway Guide work. This delay is putting a serious crimp in our trip north but nothing can be done about the weather. I will not attempt crossing the Albemarle with 25 to 35 kt winds on the nose!

RE Mayo - at a $0.40/ft dock (with electricity, sometimes)

 

The docks are sturdy but rough. At least now you don’t have to avoid holes in the docks. 
They’ve been redone with new walkways.

RE Mayo is not a marina. There’s no bathrooms, no showers, no laundry facilities, no help coming into a facedock. You’re on your own docking. The electricity consists of a 120 v outlet. If you hook up, you’ll need a adapter for 120v standard plug to a 30 amp marine boat connection. Even then, the line to the docks is only good for 20 amps. If you exceed it (or a second boat tries to connect), the circuit breaker will trip and you’ll need to go back to the office to get it reset. We are the only boat on the circuit at the moment and our A/C draws 10 amps which is fine, no problem there. 

This is a view of RE Mayo’s electrical panels. A second boat tried to plug into power and 
It popped the circuit breaker. It’s only a 20 amp line. The guy told the clerk I talked to, “Just go over the 
Reset the circuit breaker” and pointed at this! The clerk said, “No way am I going to fool with that!” 
The guy then walked over, looked for a thrown switch and reset it, I had power again.. 
Want to guess which switch he reset?

On the other hand, the dock only costs $0.40/ft and the electricity (with the limitations above) and WiFi are free. Best of all, they stock blister packs of frozen shrimp for storing away in your freezer, we had some tonight, delicious. They usually have fresh shrimp too but they come with heads still attached - which is no big deal, you just remove the heads and clean the shrimp as you would frozen shrimp. I bought a pound of the largest size, $10/lb. They used to have scallops but no more. They do have local flounder though. 

You need a 120v to boat 30 amp adapter for power. They conveniently 
Provided some string to support the power cord. 

We are expecting big storms tonight after midnight but they’re due to pass through and be done by daybreak. We’ll look for an opening and make a dash for Dowry Creek Marina Saturday morning, it’s only 22 NM north of here. According to the latest forecast, there’s going to be strong north winds for the next four days at least so it looks like we will be staying at Dowry Creek for a while - looking at weather everyday. 

Homer Smith - We tour the new clubhouse

Wouldn’t it be nice to sit on this front porch and watch the world go by?

 Tony has spared no expense in building his new clubhouse. I’ve never seen such construction. The guard rails of of 1.5 inch aluminum tubing, very sturdy. None of this stainless steel wiring or stretched nylon rope - this stuff is sturdy. Everything is overbuilt but maybe that’s due to the building codes for hurricane areas? 

There’s a huge area on the second floor that has many possibilities

They are due to move in next week, the builders are still finishing up now. When completed, there will be three bathrooms with showers, all tiled. The laundry room will host three washers and three dryers. There will be a work area and a Captains lounge with a 65 inch HDTV with a wet bar. 

They are undecided on just what to do with the upstairs, that’s TBD. The front porch has nice rocking chairs with a view of the marina. Tony just added another set of docks for small boats, each slip has a lift so the boat is stored out of the water. He’s going to have everything paved when done and he’s already thinking about improvements. 

For me, it seems a perfect place to host a “Going South” seminar next fall with an Aqua Map workshop in the afternoon and the Going South presentation after dinner. The last one I had scheduled had to be cancelled due to covid but not this one coming up. I think we’ve learned to live with covid by now. Besides, if it’s really bad, we’ll hold it outside. 

We will be off to RE Mayo Friday morning but it looks like we are going to be holed up at Dowry Creek for a few days until the predicted north winds abate. No schedules when cruising in the ICW.

Homer Smith in Beaufort, NC - at a dock

Not sure of what they were doing but they seemed enthusiastic.

 It was a long day, 54 NM but we left at 7:00 am and made it to Homer Smith by 3:00 pm. The morning was calm but the winds came up in the afternoon, 20 kts and higher in gusts. Luckily, the winds were mostly behind us so it didn’t pose a problem. The Bob423 track was good all the way, no problems there. 

You can’t see the ocean anymore from G65A, just north of New River on the ICW

We heard firing activity in Camp Lejeune and were passed by marines on the ICW but we were not delayed. In the 12 years we’ve been doing this we’ve never been delayed passing through this area yet. 

The new clubhouse is almost ready! Just a few tiles to adjust. 

Homer Smith is a good place to take on fuel and to get a pump-out which we did. Our slip was waiting for us and the directions and slip number with an attached map were emailed to us the previous day so we knew in advance exactly where to go. I wished all marinas did that. 

The new clubhouse is done! It’s not quite ready for use yet, they have to replace some of the tiles in the bathrooms but it’s otherwise ready. I’ll take a tour Thursday and report back with photos on how it looks. We’ll do our last provisioning Thursday using the free courtesy car provided by the marina and use the free laundromat, busy day. 

Harbour Village - at a dock

 

The Provision Company shown here with the free docks for guests. It’s a good, reasonable restaurant

We used to stop at Surf City and walk to the beach, bought seafood at the fresh market, and shopped for odds and ends at the local supermarket. All that came to an end when Topsail Marina stopped taking transients. Now the only option in the area is Harbour Village. It’s about another five miles farther south than Surf City but the docker are nicer and well protected. 

The docks are first rate and the harbor is completely protected

Unfortunately, there’s nothing to do. At Surf City you could walk the beach and find a good restaurant but you can’t do that here. Still, its a dependable stop on the way to Beaufort, NC and Homer Smith. The area is home to many retirement type houses, all very big. Yet another place to retire down south. 

The way in is narrow and you have to stay in the middle but it’s easy enough

We have 54 NM to travel Wednesday to reach Home Smith so we’ll take another early departure, before 7:00 am most likely. At least there’s only one bridge to time, the Onslow swing bridge. We plan for a two day stay before continuing north. 

St James Marina - family and friends day

 

My brother Mike and his wife Connie from Ohio

I had not seen my brother in years but he happened to email me that he was going to be at Oak Island this week visiting in-laws. I happened to be nearby at the marina for the next day - we decided to have a reunion this afternoon on the spur of the moment. It’s strange how things like this work out. His home is in Ohio, mine is in New York and we meet on the ICW. The afternoon consisted of remembering old times and catching up on everything that’s happened in the years past I wonder what the chances were of such a random event. 

I think all 5 year olds loves boats - I gave him a whistle to blow (at 6 am, heh, heh)

We had such a good time with the McKays on Sunday at the Provision Company restaurant, that Ann decided to invite them over for dinner on Fleetwing. It was nothing fancy, just spaghetti and meatballs but it tasted good and was enjoyed by all. Matt, their 5 year old grandson, especially enjoyed the spaghetti, one of his favorite foods. We topped the meal off with cupcakes with ice cream. 

We have a 50 NM mile today on Tuesday so we’ll be leaving around 7:00 am. It’s predicted to be good for traveling so we hope to make good time. We have a dock reserved a Harbor Village for one night before moving on to Homer Smith the next day. 

St James Plantation Marina in Southport, NC - at a dock and we meet old friends for dinner

 

Not often you see swimmers in the waters of the ICW

We headed out at 7:15 am since we had 50 NM to travel but came to a sudden stop when we saw swimmers in the water! It seems there was some kind of swimming meet using the ICW. Each swimmer had a person in a kayak nearby to mark the swimmer. Some of the swimmers were out in the middle of the channel. We slowed to a crawl and they slowly went to one side of the channel as we passed by. I think I counted about 1/2 dozen in the water. 

Jim McKay is with Matt in the photo - Matt now has a Bob423 burgee for his future boat

After that excitement, things settled down for the rest of the trip. There were no surprises on the Bob423 track and we made good progress. We arrived at St James Marina at dead low tide and found a brief 4.6 ft spot at the entrance. We didn’t feel anything with our 4 ft 9 in keel and we made it in without incident. Since it was low tide, that makes the entrance 4.6 MLLW, but just a flicker - one quick reading. The rest of the way was 5 MLLW or better. 

I highly recommend the Provision Company 

We met the McKays for dinner. They brought along their grandson, Matt, to Fleetwing before dinner so he could see the boat. It turns out that he’s quite fascinated with boats and wants one when he grows up. That earned a Bob 423 burgee but he had to promise to take me for a ride when he gets his boat, he agreed. 

The dinner at the Provision Company was excellent as usual. They have a relatively limited menu and the best meals are the specials. Ann and I had the three homemade crab cakes with side dishes, really good. All that was topped off with brownies, ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. We are full!

We will do some minor provisioning on Monday using the car generously loaded to us by the McKays. On Tuesday, we will head north again. Time to get home.