Cape Fear

No, that doesn't describe any experience on the boat, it is just the name of the Cape we are near, at the mouth of the Cape Fear river.  Since departing Chesapeake a week ago, where brother Doug joined us, we have visited 6 ports of call on our way south.

Windy day in Coinjock

The first leg, to Coinjock, was brief, at only 4 hours, but an hour of it was a bit rough in Currituck sound with a 20 to 30 knot NW wind.  Fortunately, it was a following sea so we didn't have to deal with taking a lot of spray.  Coinjock was a two night stay, as the wind was too strong to cross Albemarle Sound the next day, and we knew that from the forecast, so made the best of the day with maintenance projects and some walks. Since the domestic fresh water pump had quit the evening we arrived, I took the opportunity to re-wire the bad connection.  Probably parted due to the rough seas that day.  Otherwise, not much to see in Coinjock.  But it does have a good restaurant, which we knew from stopping here on the way north, so took advantage of it the second night.

We departed Coinjock at the crack of dawn and our trip across Albemarle Sound was calm and quick.  From there into Alligator River, and then the Alligator River - Pungo River canal, which has to be the most boring stretch of the entire ICW.  It is 20 miles long, with one bend, and supposedly 250 feet wide, but the usable portion is probably only 100 feet, and the chart describes it as "Both sides of the canal are foul with debris, snags, submerged stumps and continuous bank erosion".  We did see a deer swimming across the canal at one point so that was something to break up the monotony.



We stopped for the night at Dowry Creek marina, near our spring northerly stop at Bellhaven, and enjoyed their pool.  This marina was ruined by the hurricane last year in September, but has rebuilt and is a great stop now.

Departing Dowry Creek

Having taken a weather day already early in the trip, I didn't want to risk getting delayed again and not getting Doug to Myrtle Beach in time for his flight home.  And we had another two big river crossings to do, the Pamlico and the Neuse, so we were away before sunrise again.  As usual, the winds are lightest in the morning as well so a great time to make good distance. We had a beautiful run across both rivers and ended up in Beaufort mid-afternoon, even including an anchor stop for lunch in a quiet bay.

Sarah Cornett-Ching in her race car

From Beaufort south to Myrtle Beach, the ICW is all pretty protected, so having got to Beaufort I was comfortable that our schedule would allow a couple of nights there.  Good thing, as we packed a lot into the time there.  We docked at a marina that a couple we met on the ICW  in the spring, Jan and Lee,  keep their boat at now.  They joined us for a drink at the end of the afternoon, and Doug mentioned that a young woman he knows from his race announcing experience was going to be driving that night at a local track. Lee offered to drive if we wanted to attend, so on 1/2 hours plans, the 3 guys went to Saturday night at the race track.  A unique North Carolina experience.

Mike & Marilyn's place at Sandy Point

The next day was my birthday, and friends, Mike and Marilyn, that we had met at Club Med in the past, and live near Beaufort on the Neuse River, invited us to their house for lunch and an afternoon on the beach and sailing.  Marilyn made a wonderful lunch, and birthday apple pie.  Mike and I won the regatta at the Club sailing a Hobie, and it may have inspired him to buy one. Dinner was at a seafood place in Beaufort, with the best jambalaya I have had in years.  All in, a great birthday.

Manatees at Surf City

From Beaufort we didn't have to leave particularly early, so we woke with the body clock and got underway at a reasonable hour.  Our destination was TopSail Island, in Surf City, as we had stopped there on the way north and really like the marina, and the local fish market.  Docking, we had to change slips, as there were two manatees occupying our first slip, and they don't move quickly.  Judy bought shrimp and we had a great dinner, courtesy of Marilyn as well with fresh bread she had left with us.

Wrightsville Beach area

With our pace of day runs now slowing down, our destination for the next day was Carolina Beach, with a mid-day stop at Wrightsville Beach for a swim in the Atlantic.  We did go out Masonboro Inlet into the Atlantic to see if we could anchor and swim, but although there were very light winds, there was a residual swell coming in that made it uncomfortable to stop.  So we headed back into the inlet for our lunch and swim.  Turned out there was a pretty good current on the flood tide so a swim amounted to getting into the water and hanging on to the swim grid lest being swept away.  Was refreshing anyway.

Carolina Beach

We toured the harbour loop of Wrightsville beach after lunch and then continued on another hour to Carolina beach, where we had reserved a mooring ball rather than a marina.

View from Lighthouse of Bald Head Island Marina area

From Carolina Beach, it is only a short canal to the Cape Fear river, then downriver about 10 miles to the ocean.  Rather than turn at Southport for the ICW, we continued downriver to Bald Head Island, to a very nice marina.  A true recreation destination, it is only accessible by boat.  Most come by ferry for the golf, beaches, and about 1000 homes on the island. Cape Fear is the South Easterly point of the Island, and the next prominent point on the coast south of Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout.

We climbed the 100+ steps of the old lighthouse to see the view and had a brief stop at the beach.  It is hot again though, and the lure of AC on the boat proved to be too attractive, and a chance for Greg to de-salt the boat after a week without a wash.

From here we are only 40 miles to Myrtle Beach, so can take our time getting there, but will be in a couple of days before Doug's departure to enjoy the area.

Doug at the wheel

Doug is enjoying the trip, and his interest in photography keeps him very occupied with all the sights along the ICW.  He has posted many more pictures at the following link.

https://vando.imagequix.com/497T89M
Password is cruz

Next stop, Myrtle Beach