Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Last night we spent a lot of time planning today's trip.  We wanted to go down the Cape Fear River with an outgoing tide.  So, we checked out of the marina early and slid out of the dock at 8:00 am.  High tide was at 9:00 am and we needed the added water depth to get over the shoaling and back into the ICW.....yeah we had no issues this morning!


Happy Hours II led, while Euphoria followed. 
The sun was shining and we had 10-15 kts of wind with a little higher gusts.  About an hour into our trip, the skies out toward the ocean were getting dark...no, this was not to be....but we never got any rain!  The current was still working against us but at least the day is uneventful and quite relaxing...we didn't have any shoals to be watching for!  We continued to Carolina Beach where we turned to port to travel the Snow's Cut into Cape Fear River.  There could be one little problem! Reviews said that the 65' Carolina Bridge was having work done on it.  Scaffolding might be hanging from this bridge reducing its height. When we got to the bridge, it looked as though the construction work was complete!  That's exactly what we wanted to see!!

Down we went through Snow's Cut, carefully following the markers into the Cape Fear River.  Once in the river, we have 12 miles to travel. The tide is still not in our favor....bummer!  The further we motored to the mouth of the river, the choppier the water got.  We past a car ferry port-to-port and a 6x6x4' log... the USCG was constantly broadcasting about this board, warning boaters to be on the lookout....and we found it!

From the river we turned to starboard to go past
Southport, NC and again into the ICW.  It was so nice and calm once we slid back into the narrows of the Inter Coastal Waterway.  We conversed back and forth with Euphoria and the 4 of us were in agreement to have St. James Plantation Marina be our final destination for the night.  We knew we were stopping early, but there are no other marinas or anchorages within a reasonable distance. Having a short day on the water is good!

We pulled in and were docked bow to bow by 1:00.  We were told to check in and pay at our convenience.  Of course we were itching to walk. Soon we ran into Denise from Willoway.  They had pulled in right before us!  She walked with us in this beautiful gated community.  The park we found abutted against the ICW...2 golf courses and swimming pools.  The remainder of the day planned by Denise....3:00 happy hour at the tiki bar....6:00 Dinner at the restaurant.....I'm so tired but this cruising life style is great!

Dock to ICW from park

Park



ICW at park

Rack Storage at St James

                                       It's Five O'clock Somewhere!!