Homer Smith Docks and Marina in Beaufort - Last Day

Not a bad beach for being so close - all sorts of things for Hoolie to find to eat!;

Today we took advantage of the courtesy car and made a trip to Lowe's, the supermarket, not the home store of the same name. It's an upscale supermarket and we found everything we needed. We are fixed now until we reach Hampton.

We saw a big boat come in with a load of swordfish. There were dozens headed to the local restaurants

We explored the area some and found a beach just to the west of us. It was a nice walk for Hoolie and he found lots of things to attempt to eat - and Ann was watching him like a hawk and jerking him back just when he found a tasty morsel (that's been out in the sun for several days...) Hoolie's motto is to eat first and ask questions later. Unfortunately, that means we get what he can't keep down on the boat, hence the close watch on his eating habits but his reflexes are awfully fast. More often than not, he wins the reflex battle.

Tonight, Ann prepared the Mahi Mahi I got off the boat yesterday. She prepared a ginger glazed Mahi Mahi dish. that was beyond good. It was first marinated in honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil for 20 minutes. The fish was then cooked and the marinate carmelized and ladled over the fish. Delicious. Ann also served a watermelon salad with feta and mint as the salad, one of my favorites. Rice filled out the dinner menu and we rejoiced in the bounty of the sea.

On Sunday, we're headed north to RE Mayo for a dock and to meet up with old friends and a dinner. The weather is predicted to be good for crossing the Neuse and we're looking forward to dinner with friends.

Homer Smith Marina in Beaufort - at a dock

They caught about a dozen blackfin tuna and were cleaning them while being admired by the seagulls

We heard booms in the morning and had premonitions of the ICW being closed due to live ammunition exercises by the Marines. Ann called the Camp Lejeune number and was assured the ICW was not closed.

Our first sunset in awhile. That's the new bridge that now has traffic. They will dismantle the lift bridge

Our first obstacle was the New River "dip route" around a shoaling area in the middle of the channel. I had the GPX route loaded and we saw nothing under 8.0 MLW. Brown's Inlet was similar with a GPX route yielding a minimum of 8.7 MLW. We transited both at dead, low tide.

We planned on stopping at Home Smith Marina since he had a courtesy car and a free laundromat although it's only one washer and one dryer. We wanted to use the car for minor groceries we needed before Hampton. Normally, he has lots of shrimp but not this time. He said the shrimp fleet was still out.

We will be here Saturday to do the minor provisioning we need and then it's off across the Neuse if the weather holds and RE Mayo. PS, tonight we had chicken alfredo, I don't have the recipe since Ann did it from memory. 

Swans Point Marina - at a dock

Some original artwork on a boat in the yarde

Today was a very long day. It wasn't all that far, a little over 40 Nm but we had three bridges that had to open and two of them only opened once an hour on top of the hour. This stretch of the ICW in North Carolina is the worst on the ICW for making bridges. They are spaced so it can't be done in a boat doing only 7.3 kts. We made the first bridge on time because we left when we had to from Carolina Beach but the second bridge which opens on top of the hour and at 30 minutes past is not spaced for a boat doing 7 kts. We missed that opening and waited around for 30 minutes and then headed for the last bridge at Surf City and missed that one by 12 minutes. So we had to circle around for 48 minutes waiting for the next opening. Not fun.

The Surf City bridge is being replaced by a 65 ft bridge! That's the good news. However, we don't know when it will be completed but we've been assured that the old swing bridge will be removed when it's done. That will alleviate a lot of pain in traveling the ICW through here. We would have made all these bridges if the tide had been with us but we had a steady knot of current against us the entire way! You would think they would reverse when passing by inlets but no such luck.

Smoky Chicken Fajita

We pulled into Swan Point Marina around 4:00 pm. It's not a gem for a marina but it's spaced just right for us. There are no good anchorages nearby with shore access so we need a marina for Hoolie. Ann prepared a great meal, the recipe, Smoky Chicken Fajita. which we had with rice and beans.

Secure for the night on their outside facedock (it's too shallow inside)

On Friday we're headed to Homer Smith's Docks and Marina, one of our favorites on the ICW. It is also a shrimp dock and you can always get fresh shrimp for dinner. He also has a courtesy car you can use and brand new washers and dryers.

Carolina Beach - at a mooring

The Carolina Beach mooring field

We didn't have far to go, only to Carolina Beach, so we waited for the tide to turn in our favor up the Cape Fear River. Our original intention was to take a dock at Carolina Beach State Park and to do so we tried to use their reservation system at the advice of the dockmaster there. We found that the online reservation system did not work. It  was programmed with an entry for boats and even with the ability to specify a dock but something was left unconnected and it just halted when a reservation was asked for. I was then referred to the help desk and we chatted for about 1/2 hour with no results, she was lost too. I called the park back again with my tale of woe and she manually wrote down the date and dock I wanted. I thought all was good but when I called this morning, I was told that they do not accept boat reservations and that the person I talked to before was mistaken.

The dinghy dock is close by

Since we were leaving so late in the day, there was a good probability that the end face docks could be taken (the only ones we fit on) so I decided to look into the moorings at Carolina Beach. There I found that they also have an online reservation system (for moorings!) using DOCKWA so I made a reservation through their system. The only problem with DOCKWA is that you are charged for the dock or mooring upon acceptance of your reservation. If your plans change, then you have to negotiate with the marina for a refund and some of those refunds are very restricted. When I used the system in Long Island Sound, one marina would only refund a dock payment if the NOAA coastal forecast predicted gale force winds! Otherwise, you lost your payment.

You have to reserve a mooring in advance through DOCKWA

In this case, the mooring worked out fine. There are nine here and seven are taken for the night. The mooring ball has an area on top for the pendant to fit on so it doesn't collect barnacles and the usual slime coating, a good design feature. The pendants have a stainless steel ring that you loop your bow line through. All of this for $20/night and a convenient dinghy dock right by the mooring field where you can walk two blocks to the ocean and shop at a 7/11 type store for odds and ends.

Snows Cut is a slalom course through the buoys. It's well marked but you make grand sweeps through the buoys. I recorded my path for the maximum water and posted it in the GPX Routes section of this blog. I also added the route through the cut between Cape Fear River and Snows Cut.

The ocean is only two blocks away

On Thursday we get to brave three of the most difficult bridges on the ICW to time right. Two only open on top of the hour and the third on the hour and 1/2 hour. They are spaced so you always end up doing donuts when you come to them. We will spend the night at Swan Point Marina which I don't particularly recommend, it's just in a convenient spot for us. There are good anchorages around the area but none with shore access which is why we dock at Swan Point.

St James Plantation - Dinner Party

Jim and Eileen's wonderful house on the ICW

I passed through traditional shoaling areas yesterday (Shallotte and Lockwoods Folly) so I had to update Waterway Guide and Active Captain with the latest routes through and depths. Lockwoods Folly was down to 6.4 MLW now and it will have to be dredged like Shallotte in the near future. For the moment, there's still a way through at low tide if you draw less than 6.4 ft.

The view from their porch

The rest of the day was spent in traditional boat duties. A house doesn't take care of itself and neither does a boat. In fact, a boat requires even more maintenance or at least more personal attention by the owner. Did someone say they didn't do windows, well that was never uttered by a boat owner. Likewise for woodwork (teak) and a host of other mundane chores that never seem that important in a house (or at least you can put them off almost indefinitely).

Very nice dinner

Jim came by and picked us up for dinner around 5:45 for a ride to his house for dinner. He and his wife didn't know us at all but took us in during hurricane Matthew two years ago when we were holed up in the marina to ride out the storm. Due to their kindness, we slept in a dry room at night while the boat rocked in the slip. The boat came through fine and we came to know Jim and Eileen as good friends who we now visit every year we travel the ICW.

View on the way home, the brightest star is Jupiter (no, it's not an anchor light, it just happens to be in the same place)

A fine dinner was served with a pork tenderloin brazed on a BBQ grill. The view of the ICW was perfect, an ever-changing scene to be enjoyed from the third floor porch. After a night of too much food and wine, we returned to Fleetwing. On Wednesday, we headed to Carolina Beach for a mooring in town.

St James Plantation Marina - at a dock

Here's the new addition to Barefoot Landing, notice the complete absence of boats

We had a short run today of only 35 Nm to St James Plantation Marina. We have a dock reserved here for two days to meet with friends in the area. Our big surprise was in passing Barefoot Landing Marina where there was not a single boat docked. We had called for a reservation but received no call back until this morning, which was too late. However, we took the opportunity to ask him about docking in the future. At present, he said there is no overnight docking. They have no water and no electricity. Perhaps in the fall it may be different but for the spring and summer, it's day docking only.

We also saw a lot of new building along the waterfront in the Barefoot area. One structure (photo) really looks out of place and garish It's to be a restaurant with an arcade complete with a rope climbing tower. I guess the new owners are trying to branch out from being just an outlet center. We could see more building in the background but couldn't make out what it was.

The channel in the Rock Pile is fine, just don't stray outside! We went through at low tide, the rocks are usually covered.

We passed through the "Rock Pile" without incident. You just have to be sure to stay in the channel, rock ledges await those who stray. We took on fuel at St. James and we're settled in for the night. On Tuesday night, we've been invited to a dinner with Jim and Eileen McKay. The next day, it's northward again.

I forgot to mention, we passed through Shallotte with a minimum 12.5 MLW just following the buoys and through Lockwoods Folly where we saw 6.4 MLW between R46 and Gt47 on the USACE recommended route. Also, R76 was a little tight at 6.2 MLW. I'll more details in Active Captain and Waterway Explorer.

Marina at Grande Dunes - at a dock

My spring project continues - taking a photo of the height boards on every ICW bridge
I plan to convert the readings to MLW so you can add the tide to get the clearance
Unfortunately, this bridge had no height boards!

Today we didn't have to worry about shallow waters. It was a relief to just enjoy the scenery and the ride north. This stretch of the ICW is one of our favorites due to the greenery and just interesting vistas. It's an area where there are alligators and snakes but we didn't see any. The tide flows north and south through here with tides to 4 ft. There were rice plantations that took advantage of the natural flow of water to irrigate the rice fields with no need for pumps since high tide was enough to let water in and low tide to let the water out. It was fresh water from the river so it was a natural place for a plantation.

Typical marina but this one has a breakwater between it and the ICW to stave off wakes 

We had a foul tide the entire way to the marina so we didn't make good time but we arrived eventually. The Marina at Grande Dunes is fine, well kept and with good WiFi. We will stay here only one day and move on to St James Plantation Marina, one of our favorite stops.

I thought I would start a daily paragraph on cooking aborad Fleetwing but I have to enlist Ann to give me the details. So here goes: The meat was pork tenderloin with a rub of oregano, parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. Then it was brazed in a skillet until done with a coating of flour to keep it moist. The salad leaves are kept fresh in a glass of water until needed. The salad consisted of asparagus (baked to 2min), peas (same), lettuce, with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, honey, mustard and topped with feta cheese. Ann served freshly sliced tomatoes on the side that we picked up at a farmers' market. If this is popular, I'll continue it. We eat very well on Fleetwing.

We'll keep moving as long as the spell of good weather lasts and that's been extraordinary the last week or so. Meanwhile, our dinghy continues to deflate, oh well.