Beaufort to Southport NC - 2018

Nov 18 thru Nov 21

—Blogpost written by Bob

Beaufort NC to Mile Hammock Bay (Nov 18)

We were up at first light and cast off our dock lines from Beaufort Docks at 7:15 AM.  We motored out through the small boat channel past Radio Island and then turned around green buoy #1B before making a starboard turn into the deep Beaufort ship channel on our way back toward the ICW.  The tide was going out at the time.

The eastern sky was beautiful before
the sun came up in the morning. 

We entered the ICW, went under the Atlantic Beach fixed bridge and then through Bogue Sound, a notoriously boring long channel through relatively open, but shallow, water. 

We had some news from the Waterway Guide that there was shoaling on the green side of the ICW channel between day marks #7 and #15 (a distance of 4 to 5 miles). Since the tide was going out I paid close attention in this area, staying on the right (red) side of the channel. There were two spots where shoaling was evident, one on the left (green) side near green #7 and one on the right (red) side near #14–both areas of shoaling were well marked with temporary floating buoys. So, fortunately, this was a nonevent for us.

We were actually traveling westward for most of the day, following the inward curvature of the North Carolina coast. The mainland coastline was lined with modest homes. About one in twenty or thirty or so homes had a blue plastic tarp over their roof, evidence of damage from the most recent hurricane, Hurricane Florence.

About one in twenty or thirty or so homes had a blue
plastic tarp over their roof, evidence of damage
from the most recent hurricane.

This grounding of a shrimp boat was probably
caused by Hurricane Florence.

Note: Red marker #40A (just north of Bogue Inlet) was missing.

We anchored in Mile Hammock Bay at 1:45 PM in 11 feet of water. We were the second boat in the anchorage. Believe it or not, this is the fifth time we have anchored here—this anchorage is actually on government property (Camp Lejeune) but is intended for the public use.

Mile Hammock Bay to Wrightsville Beach (Nov 19)

It rained a little during the night and we woke to an overcast sky. Fortunately, it was relatively warm (55 degrees F). The high temperature for the day is expected to be 65 degrees—this isn’t bad for mid-November!

I started the engine at 7 AM and we weighed anchor at 7:15 AM to start the day’s trek further down the ICW.  When we are leaving from an anchorage (as opposed to a slip) we can be underway very quickly since all we have to do is "power up" the anchor. 

Today’s trip began with going past the New River Inlet, an ocean inlet which produces shoaling of the ICW—I’m glad to have that area behind us! At one point, our depth sounder showed 6.5 feet and we draw 5+ feet.  It was mid-tide when we came through this area.  I certainly wouldn’t want to attempt coming through this area at low tide!

The rain continued until about 9:30 the morning. While transiting this area I had thought about some type of portable propane heater for use in the cockpit for times like these—just to take the chill off.  It wasn’t cold in our cockpit enclosure but it was damp.

We had a minimal wait for the Surf City Swing Bridge to open—we passed through it (10 AM) probably for the last time since a new fixed bridge has been constructed just to it’s south. I expect that the new fixed bridge will be in use for our return trip northward and the old swing bridge will be dismantled.

The Surf City Swing Bridge is the green structure
just in front of a new fixed bridge.

This is probably the last time we will go through
the Surf City Swing Bridge since it is being
replaced with a new fixed bridge.

Seventeen and one-half miles later we went through the Figure Eight Island Swing Bridge—we made the 11 AM opening. We reduced our speed to easily make the 1 PM opening of the Wrightsville Beach Bridge. Before the bridge at day mark #121, we “bumped” momentarily, even though we were in the center of the channel on our chart plotter. We had to move to the right side of the channel to get around the shoaled area. This was the first grounding (even though it was just a soft “bump”) we had this trip. This “bump” didn’t delay us in the least and we made the 1 PM opening with time to spare.

Very creative power boat docking
or hurricane damage?

We anchored in Wrightsville Beach at 1:30 PM in about 15 feet of water. The water was nice and clear (because the ocean inlet is close by) but cool (because it is mid-November after all). 

The afternoon sun was nice and warm—it was 63 degrees!  Lola took advantage of the opportunity to roll around in the sun on our cabin top—she is really adjusting well to boat life. 

Lola is adjusting well to boat life!

Today was an easy 6-hour day on the ICW!

Our anchorage in Wrightsville Beach

Wrightsville Beach (Nov 20)

We planned a stay over day in our Wrightsville Beach anchorage for today.  We really like this area and there is a great Mexican restaurant nearby where we can have lunch (we do have our priorities!)

It was relatively warm last night (50’s) and we slept very well. The sun came up over Wrightsville Beach at 7:15 AM but was quickly swallowed up by the overcast sky.  Later in the morning it reappears, only to get swallowed up again by clouds.  There are eight other boats in this anchorage, all but one are sailboats and all appear to be cruisers heading south.

Even though we will not be moving today, I checked the weather forecast and our boat’s position first thing in the morning. It is always a welcome occurrence when our boat’s position doesn’t change during the night!

Today, at anchor, I had another occurrence of "craziness" in my chart plotter.  My track shows that I was momentarily somewhere in the North Atlantic.  Since I haven't yet upgraded the software, I'm hoping this is the cause.  I plan to upgrade the software while in Charleston.  (It could be that the satellites used to triangulate my position have been changed since my original software was installed.)

In this image, our dinghy is tied to the municipal
dinghy dock at the eastern end of the
fixed bridge to the beach.

Any excuse for a sale!

We took the dinghy to the municipal dinghy dock and walked into the business district of the beach town, have lunch and do some window shopping.  We talked to several shopkeepers about the impact of the recent hurricane, Florence. One restaurant on the Inland side of Wrightsville Beach experienced only one foot of water inside the first floor of the building. In another shop there was no standing water but a roof failure brought rainwater into the building. It seems like areas north of here were hit much harder by the most recent hurricane.

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Wrightsville Beach consists of two islands that are separated by two different bodies of water.  Bradley Creek runs between the mainland and Harbor Island—the ICW comes through Bradley Creek.  Harbor Island is separated from the beach by Banks Channel—we are currently anchored in Banks Channel.  Wrightsville Beach had a year round population of 2,744 in the 2010 census.  Of course, in the summer the population explodes to many times that number.

The first formal land ownership dates back to 1725, more than 100 years after our adopted hometown of Annapolis was settled.  The first permanent structure on the beach was a yacht club, built in 1884.  At the time, the beach was accessible only by boat.  Soon after, scattered cottages and some commercial buildings followed in what was then known as Ocean View Beach.  The town was incorporated as Wrightsville Beach in 1889. The highway bridge to the beach was completed in 1935.

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The sky cleared up around 4 PM and it was still 65 degrees outside.  We expect nice weather for tomorrow's short trip to Southport.

Our last night at anchor in
Wrightsville Beach NC.

Wrightsville Beach to Southport (Nov 21)

Today's 26-mile trek takes us inside the barrier islands south of Wrightsville Beach, through Snow's Cut to the Cape Fear River, and down the Cape Fear River to Southport.  Based on our experience it is best to have a favorable tidal current on the Cape Fear River.  Low tide (in Southport) is at 12:27 PM--so, tide will be going out all morning.  The 26 miles should take us about 4+ hours and leaving at 7 AM or thereabouts will give us a favorable tidal flow for the entire trip.  (We probably would not have changed our departure time for such a short trip because of an unfavorable tidal flow but it will be much faster with the tide helping us.)

The red line indicates our 26-mile long course
from Wrightsville Beach to Southport

We weighed anchor at 7:15 AM and motored through the mile-long Mott's Channel to get back to the ICW just south of the Wrightsville Beach Bridge.

Actually the tidal flow was against us in Masonboro Sound, Myrtle Grove Sound, and Snow’s Cut.  Our boat speed dropped to below 5 mph. (With so many ocean inlets along the ICW it is difficult to predict when you will have a favorable or unfavorable tide—in a large tidal river, it is easy to predict.)  Once we cleared Snow’s Cut, we picked up the favorable outgoing tide in the Cape Fear River—we were moving at 12.3 mph (10.5 knots) as we approached Southport.

During our short trip today, we were violently rocked by two power boaters who were completely ignorant of the effects of their wake. It is a shame that a few a** holes ruin the reputation of other power boaters because most are courteous.

We arrived at Southport Marina (MM 309) at 11 AM.  The first thing on our minds after docking was lunch and then, hot showers—it’s been 4 days since we had our last shower.

s/v Rainy Days docked at Southport
Marina on November 21.

We will be staying here at Southport Marina until Monday (Nov 26).  We expect to be in Charleston after 5 more (relatively easy, except for the first) days of travel after leaving Southport.  Stay tuned...

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