Carolina Beach State Park Marina - We move to a new dock

This fellow was quite friendly, did spook as I walked by

We took the day off today. The biggest excitement of the day was turning a 42 ft sailboat 180 in a marina meant for 25 ft boats. When we entered yesterday, we had come bow-in which meant that in order to leave we had to back up. That is not such a good idea in a sailboat, especially when we had to leave at low tide. At the dock we were on, low tide meant we were sitting in the mud. So when the tide got higher this morning, we decided to move to the next dock over towards the entrance where we had an extra foot of depth.

The hiking trails feature carnivorous plants! 

Somehow the maneuver was more complicated than it sounded. The wind didn't cooperate and the tight quarters didn't help but we eventually got the boat over. We have to leave at 7:00 am Monday in order to catch the outgoing tide down Cape Fear River. Unfortunately, that's also the exact time of low tide, ergo, the need for moving to a dock with deeper water and closer proximity to the exit. Now we have a straight shot out the fairway. If you haven't done it yet, you really ought to practice maneuvering a boat in tight quarters. You should be able to spin the boat in its own length - even without bow thrusters! It can be done and the technique comes in very handy at times along the ICW. We did it today.

As I said, we'll leave at 7:00 am bound for Footloose Landing Marina. We plan on staying several days and enjoying the many shops in the area. 

Carolina Beach State Park Marina - at a dock

Blockade! Where to go to avoid everybody??

There are good days and there are not so good days on the ICW. Today was one of the latter. It started out with a rush after getting up early for the long day at 6:30 and then discovering that we had 12 miles to go to make the first bridge which only opened on the top of the hour! If you miss that opening you have an hour wait. We finally got off at 7:15 and I rev'ed the engine up to 2500 rpm and made 8 kts in the water. Unfortunately (of course!!) the current was against us so we only made 7.4 over ground. We   barely made the opening time but then we had passed several  sailboats on the way to the bridge and they called ahead asking if the bridge tender would delay the opening for them. Well, he did and so he denied us the opportunity of making the next bridge which also opened only on top of the hour  which gave us an hour and 45 minute wait!!

So we did circles forever and finally the bridge opened with the boats that were originally  behind us now in front (they had motored past as we circled). So we finally made it through the bridge only to be greeted with a Coast Guard blockade due to a swimming event of circling the island held once per year (lucky us!)

It really is a nice marina - just not making any money at the rates they charge

So picture an area about the size of a football field with three sailboats, two powerboats, 20 small power boats, one dinghy sailboat, four paddleboards, five kayaks treading water while swimmers from who knows where slowly passing in front - for 1/2 hour!! Oh, and don't forget to throw in the 2 kts of current pushing us into the Coast Guard blockade, the very large powerboats at dock lining both sides of the narrow passage and the 10 to 15 kt winds blowing from left to right. So I spent most of the time in reverse, trying to avoid the 20 small powerboats (outboards) that never seemed to understand why I was intruding on their space (much horn honking...) One sailboat finally ran into a dock, another clipped a boat - all in the name of allowing swimmers to cross the ICW. Nevermind that the bridge operator could have opened the bridge before the top of the hour to let us through before the swimmers came through - oh no, regs are regs!!!

I forgot to mention that we had been trying to make the bridge opening but had run into an adverse current, which turned into a current from behind when we found ourselves in the football size area trying to kill time (of course!) Furthermore, once the blockade was lifted we expected to enjoy the pushing current to speed us on our way to Carolina Beach - No, no! As soon as we cleared the blockade, the current suddenly turned against us again to the tune of 2 kts! How can this be? The current was against us when we wanted to make good time to the bridge, was behind us when we wanted to tread water for the Coast Guard blockade and was once again against us when we wanted to make good time to Carolina Beach?? It seems against the laws of physics but it obeys the higher law of being just ornery.

End to a busy day

So we went through Snow's Cut on the way to the state marina with a 2 kt current against us and yet the tide was dropping (let's see, water flowing in but the level of the water dropping....)  You figure that one out. So we're now in the Carolina Beach State Park Marina which is beautiful facility. It was just renovated and so the state raised the rates (to pay for the renovation?) which drove away the customers to less expensive facilities which means it's now empty for us to enjoy. Apparently nobody in whatever department is responsible for the marina ever took a course in Economics 101. I would not  be surprised if their response, upon review of the financial results from 2014, would be to raise the rates once again to pay for the shortfall!

We'll be here one more day to get a favorable ebb tide and leave Monday morning for Barefoot Landing Marina for a three day stay. Time to relax. 

Swan Point Marina - at a dock

Sunrise on Cedar Creek off Adams Creek in North Carolina

We had 52 Nm to traverse today so we got ourselves together and left the anchorage at 7:30 am. We enjoyed a  beautiful sunrise (we usually don't see sunrises...) and the anchor came up with lots of bottom mud, I do have a washdown pump but even so it still took a good 15 minutes to rid the chain of its love interest with the bottom.

He very carefully found his way into his dock, rather shallow for him

There is a shrimp boat dock further in the anchorage and for the first time we saw a shrimp boat come in. I guess they fish for shrimp at night? We saw another one further down on the way out. I'm all for local shrimp, they really taste good!

Swan Point Marina - Location is everything

We had some challenging shallow spots today but with the help of Active Captain and reviews of the spots only a couple of days old, we had no problem on how to tackle the tricky areas. By now they are all familiar to us from our four trips up and down the ICW.

You don't always have 65 feet at a "65 ft  bridge" on the ICW

We're staying at Swan Point Marina which has nothing special other than the ideal location halfway between Cedar Creek and Carolina Beach. It's run by a mother/daughter team trying to make a living out of an old marina, and not doing bad.

We'll leave early on Saturday for Carolina Beach and will have to brave two bridges that only open once per hour! They are a real pain but there's nothing to be done so we'll time it as best we can. The storms are supposed to hold off until 6:00 pm, way after we get it safely into a marina, if you can believe the forecasts...

Cedar Creek off Adams Creek - at anchor

Typical of the homes around here, a house, a boat and a shed for stuff

With winds predicted out of the north we expected a smooth ride down the Neuse - and that we got! If we had chosen to reach Cedar Creek yesterday, we would have faced 10 to 15 on the nose, probably more since the wind is always more than predicted when in the middle of the Neuse. Well, we're in no hurry and we'd rather have a smooth ride than saving a day of motoring. Besides, with the wind behind us we even got some sailing in (as in, no motor!) That's a rarity on the ICW where you're usually trying to make time to a scheduled marina or anchorage.

Tonight we're in Cedar Creek with only three other boats and there could be at least 100 boats here without being crowded. It's a huge, protected anchorage and impossible to drag. It's as still as a lake tonight and the anchorage even has a convenient Hoolie relief at a nearby, sandy beach.

We enjoy the sunsets!

We'll have a quiet night, we expect, and then we'll have 52 miles to travel on Friday to reach Swan Point Marina. We would have anchored at Mile Hammock Bay but that's in Camp Legume and there's no shore access for Hoolie. Hopefully we'll get off by 7:30, a long day. 

RE Mayo Seafood - at their docks

Our one time stop with the Zeisings is now a thing of the past after they sold their house on the ICW (the left one)

Time to head south again so we left around 8:30 for RE Mayo's docks. It was only 30 miles but we didn't feel like bucking the 10 to 15 kt head winds on the Neuse River so we ducked into RE Mayo.The great attraction of the place is not only the inexpensive rates ($0.40/ft!) but the selection of seafood in frozen blister packs. The best of all were the scallops which are caught locally and flash frozen on the boat. They are the large, diver scallops and they brown nicely when in a pan and just taste wonderful. We had Seared Scallops with Herb -Butter Pan Sauce tonight with rice and snow peas. I do like Ann's cooking.

You can see the home built nature of the docks, sturdy but not what you would see at a typical marina

The docks at RE Mayo are substantial since they do moor large shrimp boats here but they don't look like marina docks. The boards are spaced so you can easily see through them to the bottom and there might be a few missing here and there. The electric service is spotty. They provide 120v at no charge but is there's more than two boats, the line voltage may drop to 95 volts! However, there's no charge for electric hook up either so who's complaining.

Having stocked up on shrimp (caught locally), scallops (ditto) and flounder (ditto), we are now provisioned for quite a ways south. We will leave Thursday for Cedar Creek on a rather short leg and then on to Swan Point Marina the next day. 

Pamlico Plantation - last day

The complex has about 250 slips but only 50 or so are occupied - boating is down

You would not believe the meals we've had the last three days. What with the breakfasts of blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, scones with orange juice and coffee, we were full before we even started the day. The lunches included crabcake sandwiches, chicken sandwiches with melted cheese and a lentil soup with squash. And I will not forget the dinners of chicken breasts with cheese dressing, herb incrusted salmon and a grilled pork tenderloin. I haven't mentioned all the side dishes, each carefully prepared and excellent, not to mention the fine wines. I think I put on a few pounds.

We say goodbye to the plantation, a very well kept community

After three days of fine dining, bridge playing and catching up on friendship happenings, it's time to continue our journey. We are about three days behind last year's progress even with the unusually good weather. The hurricane season has been nonexistent - it has embarrassed all forecasters - the majority of which predicted an above average season. However, we are not complaining.

We will leave Wednesday morning and aim for RE Mayo for a $0.40/ft dock where we also hope to stock up on scallops, shrimp and fish, all caught locally. The docks there look decrepited but they are sturdy enough for the 70 ft shrimp boats, they just don't look so good.

Pamlico Plantation - a the courtesy dock

The pampas grass is planted all over the plantation

Even when traveling down the ICW which many consider to be a  vacation all the time, there are still duties to be done. The  boat list goes on and on, after all it's a traveling home and requires maintenance. So we had to refill a propane tank so we could continue enjoying hot meals. The load of laundry was gargantuan but we had access to Liz's washing machine.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying outstanding meals prepared by Liz and Don, a definite plus when visiting along the ICW. We have one more day here before leaving on Wednesday. We also discovered that the striper season is in full swing down here and the locals were fishing off all the piers.

This the first time we've seen moss in the trees on this trip (this far north)

Just for excitement, I discovered that the dinghy was banging up against the back of the boat when the wind changed to off the stern. So in the dark I had to bring the dinghy around to the front and then to an adjacent slip with wind and waves rolling, fun at night. All that was after trying four other things that didn't work, a learning experience. Unfortunately, you mostly learn about things that don't work by trying to get them to work and failing. To the extent that I can, I try to document the things that do work in the "Pages" section of this blog, maybe it will help a little bit.