2019: Southport NC to Myrtle Beach SC

28 October 2019
Depart: Harbour Village, Hampstead, NC 9:05
Arrive: St. James Marina, Southport, NC 2:30
Distance: 41 nm

We woke to a morning fog that, thankfully, lifted quickly and did not delay our departure.

"Home Too" docked at St. James Marina in morning fog

The entrance / exit for the marina is "cozy" for a boat our size. Clark ended up backing part way out of the marina until he found a spot wide enough that he turned around. A man holding his young child watched intently as we went in reverse towards the ICW. I yelled to him that we planned to go in reverse all the way to Florida!

Clark had called a number of marinas in the Southport area and either got a "no vacancy" answer or had to leave a message and wait to see what came available. As we traveled this morning, he got a callback from St. James Marina, so we set that as our destination.

We had two bridges to deal with today - the Figure Eight Bridge and Wrightsville Bridge. From past experience Clark knew that waiting for the Figure Eight Bridge to open on the half-hour significantly reduces our chances of arriving at the Wrightsville Bridge in time for their on-the-hour opening. He wanted to make the 11 o'clock Wrightsville, so he decided that if at all possible, he would fold the mast for Figure Eight Bridge.

We need a little more than 17' of vertical clearance. The bridge tender told Clark we would find a "solid eighteen feet" when we arrived. That was our cue to start folding antennas and the mast. With current taking us into the bridge, we had to work fast. Clark climbed up on the back of a seat on the flybridge to have a view over the top of the boat to the bridge. As we passed under the bridge, Clark reached up as high as he could and still could not reach the bridge. Apparently, we had well over a foot of clearance over the hardtop of the boat.

Once we got past the bridge, we put the boat in autopilot (it takes both of us to lower / raise the mast) and worked to get everything back up in place. Given our success, Clark started to think that maybe he could shimmy under the Wrightsville bridge as well. He called the bridge tender to get clearance numbers and was told we would have about 20.5' - we need about a foot more to go under without folding.

Even though we had just put it all back up, Clark decided we should take it all back down. The bridge tender told Clark the bridge would be opening in ten minutes, even so Clark was adamant he wanted to drop the mast for future reference.

UNC Wilmington Research Sanctuary

UNC Wilmington "Cape Fear" Research Vessel

Our travels today took us through Snow's Cut

Fishermen on the shore

and into the Cape Fear River.

A boat that did not survive Cape Fear River

"Fort Fisher" Cape Fear Ferry

We had current with us and traveled at speed upwards of 11.7 knots. Clark kept saying, "We're flying!" Along the way, we saw multiple dolphins, and for the first time on this trip south, we saw pelicans. The ones we saw were busy diving into the water in search of lunch.

Some boat names are pretty common; others are unique. . .

Boat name: "In a Meeting"

On approaching tonight's marina, we donned our "marriage-save" headsets to talk to each other and found we had a major failure. Both batteries had just been charged but my headset failed. Being used to having easy access to talk to Clark as we docked, I felt pretty lost without them. Thankfully, we had a warm day and all the windows in the full enclosure were open.

We docked successfully and then Clark started checking out the headset batteries to see what was going on. In the process of trying to figure out the battery situation, Clark became worried that he had done something bad to his multi-meter. After much prodding and poking, he declared that his precious meter was "smoked"! We immediately looked online to order a replacement and found that the one he had is no longer being made. So sad!

One of the headset batteries measure 4 volts and the other measured 0. Clark cleaned the contacts and charged both batteries. We had a trial use afterwards, and voila, the headsets worked! Yay! We expect to be able to use them tomorrow.


29 October 2019
Depart: St. James Marina, Southport, NC 9:05
Arrive: Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, SC 12:55
Distance: 26 nm

Because we planned to stop in Myrtle Beach to see friends of Cathy and Franklin, we had a relatively short trip today. Along the way, we discussed the various living accommodations on the waterway.

Interesting color choices

Convoluted stair arrangements
Clark gave it the "Ugliest House Award"

Huge mansions

Heron admiring huge house

Look-alike Condos

Houses in cramped quarters

Motor Homes
Sea Mist Camping Resort
Ocean Isle Beach, NC

The other thing that really stands out in this portion of the ICW is the length of the docks. I told Cathy that seeing these long docks for the first time at high tide, I finally, truly understood why they are so very long.

Long dock to small house

Rows of long docks

New, extra long dock around property that
appears to have no particular purpose

Compared to other travel days, we had light traffic today though we did see a few work boats.

USCG Crew fixing the Green Marker
It takes 5 people?

"The Big M Casino" 

Work boat

Dredging for condo complex

We also saw various eating establishments on the water.

Dock and Dine

Restaurant on waterway

We crossed into South Carolina from North Carolina today near the Little River inlet and Calabash River. I always recognize the border by the wrecked fishing trawler that has been there since a hurricane a couple of years ago.

Welcome to South Carolina

The marina told Clark to call when we reached the black and white lighthouse. We got there very early afternoon.

Lighthouse for Myrtle Beach Yacht Club up ahead

I spent the afternoon doing laundry while Clark did various chores on the boat including replacing the broken spoke on my bike. Afterwards, Cathy and Franklin's friends, Bruce and Gerri, came over. We sat on "Home Too" and talked.

My hair was a mess, so I jammed my hat on when I saw the camera!
Gerri, Cathy, Bruce, and Ev

We needed Franklin in the picture too.

After catching up on the boat, we decided to walk to a nearby restaurant.

Clark's Seafood and Chop House
Restaurant at MBYC

2019: Harbour Village Hampstead NC

27 October 2019

Depart: Caspers Marina, Swansboro, NC 9:45

Arrive: Harbour Village Marina, NC 2:45

Distance: 34 nm

The predicted rains arrived early this morning. We originally planned to leave at 9:00, but it took us a little longer to leave as we waited for a rain storm to pass. When we left the dock, the rain had taken a respite, but the winds still blew like crazy -- gusting at around 20 knots. Where the winds blew us hard onto the pier and towards the boat docked at our bow, Franklin had the opposite situation with his boat being blown off the dock.

Clark and I set up our lines for departure, went and helped “Home Too” get off the dock, and then came back and got ourselves off. Clark rigged a line from the bow to the dock to prevent forward movement into the boat in front of us and assist with our departure. Three different men on nearby boats asked if we needed assistance, we told them no thanks.  Clark just asked the dock hand to handle that one line for us and release it when he gave the word. The operation as spelled out by Captain Clark was smooth and awesomely impressive!

During our departure moment, we had bright sun; however, almost as soon as we got underway it started raining again. I managed to get the lines cleaned up just before the rain got heavy. Fortunately, it did not last long and we had a windy but decent-weather day on the water.

Views on today's trip ...

Sunken Fishing Trawler -- so sad

Vertical Lift Aircraft over Camp Lejeune

Same aircraft 

Nice home on the water

Marshland 

 At one point on today’s trip, the winds gusted up to 30 knots. Since we had reservations at a marina, we wondered how much fun we would have docking with high winds. When we reached the entrance to the marina, the winds still gusted to around 20 knots. I mentioned something about my hat and the wind, and Clark said, "Oh! Where's my hat?"

I have recommended to him several times that when he takes it off on the upper helm, he loop the tie around the arm rest of the captain's chair. Mostly he forgets. We gave a look around up top and a search in the pilot house and salon and decided it had taken off in the high wind. I said, "I refuse to put out an all points bulletin on your hat like last time!" and went down to work my lines for docking.

Last time the hat took off, it hid under the dinghy until we docked and then dropped down onto the swim platform to be rescued. As I went to work the lines I took a quick look under the dinghy, and sure enough, there it was in its favorite hiding spot between the back of the dinghy and the flag pole that hangs on our stern.

I yelled up to Clark that I found his hat and told him where it sat. He asked me to come up and take over the helm so he could go rescue the hat. With that request I knew he'd do anything to keep that old green hat of his.

To get to the hat, Clark had to climb over the outboard of the dinghy that extends over the edge of the fly bridge platform it rests on. Even when we are not in open water, I hold my breath when he inches his way around behind the dinghy to secure the dinghy cover. In 20 knot winds it certainly was a bit more dangerous than usual. Once precariously perched behind the dinghy, he had to reach down with one hand, feel around for the hat, and then hold it while climbing back out of that tight spot. I certainly breathed a big sigh of relief once he stepped back over the outboard tail and back inside the boat! If it's not the death of him that hat will be the death of me in concern!

Hat lodged itself in front of flag, under dinghy

 Although the wind blew with strength on the waterway, it pretty much disappeared as we turned into the marina. We had no difficulty docking whatsoever. As we tied up our lines, the dock master recommended we get take out pizza from Nunzio’s Pizza -- the owners are from Brooklyn, NY, so it's gotta be good. We decided to follow up on that suggestion, so I got off easy on dinner prep tonight. After dinner, we kicked back to relax with our standard Sunday night television shows.

2019: Swansboro NC

26 October 2019

Depart: Trent River Anchorage, New Bern, NC 9:00

Arrive: Caspers Marina, Swansboro, NC 4:20

Distance: 61 nm

Today’s travels were filled with interesting animal events. First, as Clark pulled in the anchor, I stood ready at the helm and watched a river otter playing in the water in front of the boat. Most of the time it was under water, but every so often it would stick its head up two or three times in a row to get air and then swim under water again.

Immediately after pulling up the anchor, we traveled through the open railroad bridge and the open-on-demand, Neuse River bridge. As we approached and passed through the opening of the railroad bridge, I could not believe my eyes. Rows and rows of seagulls sat on the tracks and rails. Having see Hitchcock’s “The Birds” as a child, this looked like it could be something out of that horror movie.

Passing through Railroad Bridge

Birds on every rail for the length of the track over the water

Three or four abreast!

Some even chased "Home Too" out onto the Neuse River

 Motoring along Adam’s Creek, we heard on the VHF radio that a dog was swimming across from one side to the other. We could see the dog making his way to shore but with all the bulkhead, we saw no good way for him to exit the creek. Two men on shore saw the dog coming and one climbed down some rocks to pull the dog in by its collar. Shortly thereafter, we saw two men standing on the opposite shore – probably wondering how they were going to get their dog back.

Puppy at bulkhead

Puppy swimming to the rocks

 We spotted some dolphin fins today. None of them wanted to come play by the boat. I guess our speed was not quite up to their standards.

On Adam’s Creek, we also saw a few wrecked boats – a houseboat, some pleasure boats, and a fishing trawler named Miss Melissa.

Sunken Houseboat

Sunken Fishing Vessel - "Miss Melissa"

We had summer-like weather today and, since it was a Saturday, lots of boaters were out enjoying a day on the water.

Beached boat with colorful umbrella shade and a flying kite

Having weighed the options every which way from Sunday, Clark opted to take us to Caspers Marina in Swansboro, NC. We have stayed here before. Worried about reaching the marina before their 5:00 closing time, we did a speed / time check every hour or so to confirm we could make it. The Neuse River and up to Beaufort we had excellent speeds of well over 9 knots even with lower than our normal RPMs. After Beaufort, the current turned against us and we hoped we had gained enough time on the earlier segment of our ride to make up for the slower speeds. Overall, we made better time than expected and arrived 30 minutes earlier than we hoped for.

Caspers Marina, Swansboro, NC

 Wanting some exercise, I talked Clark into going to the grocery store via bicycle. We had to hurry to get there and back before the sun set. As soon as we got the boat secured, we pulled out the bikes to go. I started to follow Clark and I heard a nasty tinkling sound I had heard just last month. Uh-oh! I looked and sure enough one of my spokes is broken in half! I yelled to Clark to come back because I could not go. He checked the bike, decided it was not too bad, secured the broken spoke to a nearby one with scotch tape, and said, “Okay, let’s go!” The bike survived the trip to the store and back and then a cruise around the historic district without complaining, so I guess the scotch tape was a good “fix”.

Swansboro, NC

Local fowl

Ice Cream, etc.

Dock and Dine

Pedestrian Walkway under Highway

Bicentennial Park

Capt. Burns, Jr.
1812 War Hero
Builder of steamboat "Prometheus"

Sunset in Swansboro, NC