Boating with Sunset Delight: 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.