Nothing Could be Finer than to be in Carolina

We are finally making good progress south after a week occupied with the engine service.  The work took a day longer than expected as we had them address a fuel pump issue as well that required a part order.  Since we arrived on Friday ahead of the wind storm, and didn't get away until Thursday, it made for a slow 6 days.  

I occupied myself with some minor maintenance chores, and  the weather turned very nice on Monday, but we continued to think about what great travelling days we were missing.  

Fortunately our friends Mike & Marilyn, who live nearby, returned Tuesday from an excursion, and we were able to have dinner with them that night and lunch Wednesday.  And a much appreciated provisioning run.



The location for the service on the main ICW channel yielded some interesting vessel viewing.  On two consecutive days the river cruise vessels Independence and American Star cruised by heading south. These small cruise ships do the ICW from Baltimore to Florida as well as other routes from the NorthEast.





And for those ex-Cominco readers, we saw a couple of Nutrien tug/barges. Nutrien is the new name for the merged Potash Corp / Agrium businesses, and Agrium was the name adopted for the Cominco fertilizer division which was spun off in 1993, which I worked a LOT on. 

The phosphate mine this barge is servicing is just upriver from where we cross the Pamlico river. It delivers the product to Beaufort for loading on to deep sea ships.  



The engine service work was wrapped up by Thursday noon and we elected to get away for a half day run south.  The mechanic had mentioned that I should expect to see a bit of diesel overflow to the engine bilge the first few hours and dutifully cleaned this up when we arrived in Swansboro, about 30 miles south.  It was a beautiful afternoon run with light winds and warm air, and importantly got Bogue sound behind us as it was forecast to blow a bit Friday. 

Friday am we departed Swansboro about 10 with decreasing north winds, intending to get to one of our favourite stops, Surf City.  A prudent check of the engine room after a 1/2 hour running revealed a fairly significant diesel leak into the engine bilge, so we turned around and headed back to Swansboro.  After some consultation time and photo exchanges with the Cat service shop, we concluded that they hadn't tightened down the bleed valve, which is there to bleed air from the fuel system.  It also bleeds fuel if not done up tight.  By the time this was concluded it was too late to depart as it is getting dark so early now.  Another clean-up job anyway. And a great opportunity to walk the small dowtown of Swansboro.  

Friday night in Swansboro turned into a real hit though.  While making dinner we could detect music from a nearby waterfront bar, so headed there for the evening to enjoy the C&W/bluegrass musician with a great voice. 

We wanted to depart early Saturday and it was no problem getting wakened, as the marina was hosting a fishing tournament, and there were about 50 boats gathered before daylight to prepare for the start.  The derby was for largest speckled trout, which grow to about 10 lbs.  

The day was spectacular, with winds of 0-5 knots and temps to low 70's.  We decide to make the best of it and put in a long day, covering 65 miles to Southport NC, over 9 hours.  The average speed doesn't sound great, but there are a number of no-wake zones that slow progress, and one bridge that presented about a 1/2 hour delay.  This part of the ICW is in some ways more tiring as due to the narrow channel and shallow water outside of the channel, one has to be very focused on the course every minute.




Sunday brought another fine day and we departed mid-morning for a leisurely 5 hour run down to Myrtle Beach.  The stretch of ICW from Long Beach to Holden Beach is some of the prettiest cruising area of the ICW, with the barrier islands and sand dunes on the east and beautiful residential areas to the west.  We crossed the state line into South Carolina early afternoon and arrived in Myrtle Beach mid-afternoon and enjoyed dinner at the marina restaurant.  


The forecast for the next while is quite good, with light to moderate winds, warm days, but cool nights.  We certainly deserve the break. Our next big destination is Charleston SC, where we intend to spend a few days. 

Comments

  1. dougwallerNovember 14, 2021 at 7:52 PM

    I hope the diesel smell did not last and washed away well… safe travels…. The Georgia zig zags are next?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Old Man and The SeaNovember 15, 2021 at 4:44 AM

      No, 3M pads soak it all up then a wipe with Spray 9 and it’s good.

      Delete
  2. kathNovember 14, 2021 at 8:03 PM

    Fun to read your updates

    ReplyDelete

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