Mile Hammock Bay to Carolina Beach, NC

Today:      51 miles      9.9 hours            ICW St M “295.0”

Total:     474 miles    78.8 hours

     By the time we were ready to leave at 6:50 am, almost half of the boats were already gone, while 6 of us were pulling up anchor. There were 2 trawlers traveling together, and I believe one or both were newbies and hadn’t a real clue how to boat. When his anchor was pulled, he first boat migrated to narrow entrance of the anchorage and blocked it for the rest of us, while he waited for his friend.  The friend cut in front of me, so he could follow the first trawler.  The second boat almost ran aground the outside of the red marker.  Then the two boats headed south at about 2 mph, trying to decide who was going to lead.  Then they crawled though the tricky, shallow area by the New River Inlet.  Thankfully, they got though without problems, but delayed the rest of us by about 15 minutes. It might not seem like much, except when one is trying to make a bridge opening that only opens on the hour!  They made the 9 am opening of the Surf City Bridge, while the rest of the 8 sailboats had to wait for the 10 am opening! It was tricky as the current was dragging boats towards the bridge with the aid of the wind from our stern.

Salt from Florence causing trees to die

      The Figure 8 Bridge opens on the hour and half hour, but the Wrightsville Bridge is only on the hour.  For us sailboats, it is always a challenge to make the 4 miles in the half hour time frame.  Well with the current gods smiling upon us, Pete kept the boat mostly in natural, but had to actually put the boat in reverse to slow it down so he didn’t have to wait long for the opening.  All the sailboats were able to make the 1 pm opening.

    Throughout the day, we saw boats on land, docks destroyed and more of the blue tarps on the roofs. Below the Wrightsville Inlet, we saw what appeared to be a large sailboat, probably 45-50 feet high up on one of the islands, complete high and dry. I doubt it will be removed.

"Snow Birds'" Migration!

A beautiful classic Elco boat
from the '40s

A lonely cloud over the Carolina Beach Inlet

     As we were passing the Carolina Beach Inlet, the 2 boats in front of us suddenly crabbed sideways about 30 feet due to the strong current from the inlet.  Pete was able to anticipate it so we didn’t crab that badly.

    We made the mooring field around 4.  There were only 2 mooring balls remaining.  Shortly after snagging our that we reserved 2 days ago, another boat came in to claim the last one.  Later another boat came in searching for an open one. Since the moorings are reserved by the Dockwa App, I wonder how often there is a problem with someone without a reservation missing due to another boat that claimed the spot. There is a contact number to call on the confirmation. I guess they will handle it.

     Pete found the beach severely eroded due to hurricane Florence, but the dunes held. He was able to get the walk in before the rains came, and we settled in for the night.

~  ~  ~  /)  ~  ~      K & P