Beaufort, NC to Southport, NC

November 18, 2018 - November 25, 2018

Early Sunday (11/18) morning we cast off and headed south on the ICW.  The weather was beautiful and by the time we anchored in Mile Hammock Bay (near Camp Lejeune) I was wearing shorts.  Since we have the full cockpit enclosure up the sun warms us up nicely even if the air is chilly.  Along the way today we saw evidence of the destruction of Hurricane Florence mostly in blue tarps covering roof damage and missing siding.  

On Monday we left our anchorage at 7:15 in heavy rain that had started early in the morning.  We wanted to make sure we got past New River Inlet at mid and falling tide.  It’s nice to get what we thought was the only tough spot done early.  We had three opening bridges to contend with today, and Bob timed our travel so we wouldn’t have to wait too long for openings.  It is stressful to circle around in front of a bridge with other boats lined up for the opening as well. Between the Figure Eight Bridge and Wrightsville Beach Bridge we went aground briefly at an inlet, but Bob was able to power through the shallow section. After traversing a part of the ICW with incredible mansions lining the west side, we arrived in Wrightsville Beach.  It is a beautiful area, and we are hoping our favorite restaurants here have not been damaged by Florence.

Since our reservation in Southport doesn’t start until Wednesday, November, 21 we enjoyed a stopover day in Wrightsville. Our favorite Mexican restaurant, Tower 7, was open and the food was a delicious as we remembered.

The beach was deserted except for this lone fisherman.

Of course, when I saw this shop advertising
 hurricane sale bargains I had to check it out.  

This view of Wrightsville beach shows the fishing pier.

We left Wrightsville Beach at 7:15 on Wednesday morning headed for Southport, NC.  With a favorable tide helping us on the Cape Fear River we arrived by 11:00am.  The bright sunshine and cool breeze made it perfect for a walk over to Fishy Fishy for lunch.  On our way back to the boat we stopped to admire an American Tug and were invited aboard for a tour. It has a beautiful roomy layout with a great galley.  

That afternoon I made a pumpkin pie (sugar free, of course) and Bob made cranberry relish in preparation for our Thanksgiving “feast”.  While I was baking the pie the propane tank ran out and Bob had to switch to the spare. Thanksgiving was great; good food, nice weather, and lots of football. 

On Friday morning we walked to the outpatient clinic at the local hospital (about 1 mile) for Bob to have his eye examined.  Since there were no eye doctor’s offices open until Monday the hospital was our only recourse.  Bob was seen quickly and diagnosed with an eye infection and prescribed drops to clear it up.  We then walked a half mile further to the pharmacy, had lunch at a pizzeria, and then walked to Walmart to buy our needed groceries.  By the time the Uber driver dropped us off at the marina it was 3:00 pm.  In the pouring rain on Saturday we took an Uber to Oak Island hardware to get our propane tank refilled.  Then we watched college football.  Penn State handily beat Maryland in their final regular season game.

Sunday we were busy all day with the chores to get ready to head out on Monday - laundry, changing engine oil and filter, cleaning our composting toilet, cleaning the water filters, and the cleaning interior of the boat.  It was another exhausting day, but I did take time to walk to the Christmas store to buy some decorations for the boat.

My next blog post will be about the final leg of our journey and will be posted from Charleston, SC our final destination for the season.

Thank you for reading my blog.