Southport - 2017

Jun 5 thru Jun 7

--Blogpost written by Bob

This blogpost covers three (mostly rainy) days we spent in Southport NC on our way back to the Chesapeake Bay.  

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We spent last night tied to the floating dock at Southport Marina--it was luxurious sleeping in air conditioning.  We planned to spend two nights here but we have extended our stay to three nights because of predicted thunderstorms on Tuesday (90% chance of rain and over 1" accumulation).  This morning, Monday, June 5, it is partly cloudy with a lot of heavy, dark clouds in the sky to the west.

Southport's waterfront as viewed 
from across the salt marsh.

Two shrimp boats were tied to the dock 
in front of Potter's Seafood.

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It rained in the late afternoon yesterday and it certainly looks like it will rain again today, Tuesday, June 6.  The sky is overcast and the humidity just hangs in the air waiting for the least bit of cool air for it to condense out of the atmosphere.  The temperature is a nice cool 75 degrees.  The weather prediction has changed slightly with 80% chance of rain today and 3/4-inch accumulation expected and 100% chance tomorrow with over 2 inches of rain expected--it looks like we'll be staying here another day.  Southport is not a bad place to be stuck!

It was a rainy day in Southport Marina today, June 6.

I keep thinking about all the boat projects I now have on my "to do" list for this summer--currently 45 of them!  I've identified 5 of the 45 that I can probably do here in Southport during the rain and without special tools.

We walked downtown after lunch, all the way to the NAPA store.  I bought a NAPA oil filter since I couldn't find a Yanmar-brand filter.  Our Yanmar engine has a male connection with M20 threads and a 1-1/2" length.  I was able to get a longer oil filter that is easier to change--it is NAPA oil filter #1357.  It cost only $8 while the Yanmar-brand filter is $35 each--a 77% savings!  I don't think I'll be using Yanmar-brand oil filters any longer.  (Much later when I got back to Annapolis I bought Yanmar brand filters for less than $7 each--so the $35 must have been for a quantity of filters.  In any case it was a mistake.)

NAPAGold oil filter #1357 is a little longer than the
original Yanmar-brand oil filter--it's easier
to changeout and a lot cheaper!

The manual for our new 3YM30AE engine specifies oil changes every 150 hours but oil filter changes every 250 hours.  It doesn't make sense to me to change them on different intervals--so, I will be changing both at 150-hour intervals.

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We've decided to stay here in Southport today, Wednesday, June 7.  Hopefully, this will be our last day of rainy weather.  

S/V Rainy Days on a rainy day in Southport, June 7.

The rain is supposed to end around noon tomorrow.  We've reworked our itinerary so that we have a short day tomorrow.  The following day we have two bridges that have to open for us and they only open on the hour--so, there is a good chance we will be held up for some time.  Our itinerary for the next seven days is as follows:
      6/8:  Southport to Wrightsville Beach - 26 miles
      6/9:  Wrightsville Beach to Half Moon Bay - 39 miles
      6/10: Half Moon Bay to Cedar Creek - 57 miles
      6/11: Cedar Creek to Pungo River - 60 miles
      6/12: Pungo River to Little Alligator River - 46 miles
      6/13: Little Alligator River to Pungo Ferry - 52 miles
      6/14: Pungo Ferry to southern Chesapeake Bay - 49 miles
Of course, our itinerary is subject to change but it looks like we will be in Chesapeake Bay waters by June 14!

This view on the evening of June 7 is looking toward the Cape
Fear River from our slip.  The ICW is on the
extreme right side of this image.

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