January 16, 2010

I'm sorry I didn't post last night, it was a long day. We left Dudley's marina, with Elvis & Clyde hard at work keeping things stirring. You absolutely have to visit Dudley's! Anyway, our leg took us through Camp Lejune; specifically the firing ranges. They were, happily, not firing that yesterday, so we did not need to wear the helmets & flak vests. Not really; they have all sorts of stuff to tell you to stop if they are firing. Marines, after all, don't miss all that often. Two of these bad boys flew right over the boat as we waited for a bridge opening. I'd really, really hate to be the bad guys. The noise & vibration is absolutely awesome. They hovered for a landing, then blew out of there at 200 kts. The rest of the day was pretty straightforward. Well, mostly. There was a minor bit of navigational confusion; you know, right turn instead of left. If the dolphins hadn't been showing off & diving under the bow, I doubt it would have happened. Most of the AICW is pretty straight in this area. Frankly it looks like a long ol' ditch, populated by houses that you'd see in the NJ shore areas. The excitement for us is hoping to see something unusual, as well as missing any contact with the bottom of the channel. Luck, and the power of Detroit was with us most of the way & we managed to make all the bridge openings on time. Last night was spent anchored in the Grand Banks Channel anchorage in Wrightsville Beach, NC. Fairly peaceful spot, with lots of water.

Early, well, relatively speaking, up and on the way to catch the high tide thru' Carolina Beach Inlet area. This spot is getting to be one of the worst places on the AICW for groundings & shoaling. We saw a brief 4.6' flash on the depthfinder, but by the time we opened our eyes again, we were back up to 6.0'. Tidal currents here are amazing. Today one grabbed us as we came into Southport from the Cape Fear River, throwing 20,000# of boat sideways as if it weighed 20#. Midday found us coming into Southport, NC, a hokey little town just off the Cape Fear river entrance. Given the weather forecast, we elected to stop sooner rather than later. Tides were against us, rain & wind were coming in the afternoon, it was starting to sound like work. There aren't all that many places to anchor in this stretch, so marinas become the stopping places out of necessity. We are currently tied up in the St. James Plantation Marina. That puts us about 25 miles from the SC border & probably a days run from Myrtle Beach, SC. If the forecast holds true, we'll leave here Sunday am. Catch you later.