Monthly Archives: May 2013

Mansions, power boats and money #38

Posted on by
Reply

Wednesday, May 22

We left Morehead City at 6 a.m. Stephen was excited about trying to catch a fish. He went online and got the appropriate fishing license and had fun putting together this new gear.

We spent the day traveling south in the ICW right along the coastline. On the mainland side of the ICW were lots of private homes, some of them quite large and with very nice private docks. On the barrier islands side were hotels and condominiums. Many of these homes were vacation homes. It makes one wonder what their real homes look like.

We started to call it the Parade of Homes.
 

These little islands were created when they dredged the channel.

 

Stephen and Ralph roll up the eisenglass to let the breeze flow through.

Ralph made his final fix to the steering linkage. He replaced the hose clamp with a stainless steel one.

 

About mid morning we had a hearty breakfast with cream of wheat, fruit and toast.

We saw lots of osprey nests in the channel markers.

We saw a deserted boat.

We saw kayakers.

We saw fishermen.

The parade of homes continued throughout the day.

 

Some homes had beautiful trees.

The fishing went on throughout the day.

We waited on several bridges that day. At 11a.m. we waited for the Onslow Bridge, a swing bridge. There were a number of folks fishing there. We were not far past Camp Lejeune, note the military guys.

We passed under the Goose Bay Bridge.

We picked up the pace with our engines hoping to make the 2 p.m. opening of the Surf City Bridge, another swing bridge.

The last bridge was the Wrightsville Beach Bridge. It was a basculle bridge and we had to wait 45 minutes for it to open. After that we pulled into our anchor spot there at Wrightville Beach.

We saw lots of power boats, many of them yachts. Not so many sailboats.

This was the opposite of our deserted anchorage near Belhaven. There were lots of other boats anchored there and we were surrounded by hotels, condominiums and beach houses.

Stephen got Into the water to see if his fishing line had wrapped around the prop. All was okay.

We had a delicious feast of leftovers…..ginger beef, fish, rice, avocados, tomatoes and whatever else was left from previous great meals.

We had one small incident when the tide changed and the neighboring boat came awfully close to ours. He had entirely too much anchor rode out for a small crowded anchorage such as it was. We kept an eye out for awhile. Eventually, we retired relaxed and satisfied with another successful day.

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Franci and Stephen

 

Passage to Morehead City #37

Posted on by
4

Tuesday, May 21

Folks, remember you can track our position in real time by going to the following site:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0zf7trF8VCXlbrj72vkGsUkDo8QIe8hEO

We left our anchorage in Belhaven at 5:30 a.m. It was a beautiful sunrise.

We traveled through the Pongo River into the Pamlico River and by 8 a.m. we were in Goose Creek. There were lovely homes along the creek.

 

It was a beautiful sunny day. We passed sailboats headed north

Ralph used vinegar and Purple Power to clean dead bugs off the ceiling. We had quite a mosquito invasion the night before. Arlene cleaned in the galley.

We saw a fisherman tending his pots.

Around 8:30 a.m. Goose Creek narrowed into a canal. This canal connects Goose Creek and the Neuce River. Along the way we saw damage to the trees along the banks, possibly caused by a hurricane.

 
 
 
We passed a marina with several large fishing boats.
 
 
 
 

Arlene tidies up the screecher line.

We would eventually see a few private homes along the canal.

By 9 a.m. we left the canal and entered the Neuce River. Our plan was to travel about 65 miles that day. Our destination was Morehead City, close to Beaufort, NC. Beaufort, by the way, is pronounced Bo fort just like Beaumont. In South Carolina there is a Beaufort pronounced Bu fort. Go figure.

We pass a green square with a gold triangle on it. That means it's really red so leave it to the starboard side. There's much to learn about navigating the I C W.

Stephen was at the helm for several hours. At 10 a.m. Capt. Ralph took the helm again. We would be on the Neuce River for several hours. It's a large body of water, once again almost like a bay. Eventually we would go south down Adams Creek to a large bay where Beaufort and Morehead City are located.

We saw many sailboats sailing north. We wished we could be sailing too, but, alas we were still heading straight into the wind. That's pretty much the way it is this time if year. Many folks from the north have taken their boats to Florida or the Bahamas for the winter. This is the perfect time of year for them to travel back to their home ports in the northeast and Canada.

At 11:30 Arlene takes over the helm. Th helm is a very sunny spot today. It's a gorgeous, sunny day.

We had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. Here's Stephen cleaning up the galley.

After lunch Franci moved into the helm position and got to take the boat through Adams Creek. There were many homes along the way. It was a very scenic journey through Adams Creek. Nearly all the homes had private docks. Many were vacation homes.

 
 

At 3 o'clock we arrived at our destination, Morehead City Yacht Basin. The part needed to repair the front beam was there and Ralph and Stephen started immediately working on that repair. Meanwhiie Franci and Alene took the courtesy car to West Marine, the grocery store and the liquor store. They also got more ice from the marina.

At West Marine a gentlemen named Steve helped them buy Stephen a trolling rod and reel and all that he will need to catch a fish along our way. He's very excited about trying to catch a fish.

By the time the girls got back to the boat, the guys had completed the repair. Ralph and Arlene hosed down the boat until she sparkled and shone once again. No more nasty dead bugs. We refueled and topped off the water and we were ready for the next leg of the journey,

After showers for all, we walked down to Raps, a charming little pub where we had drinks and dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting the waitress, bartender, cook and management. It was a very fun way to spend our evening. Ralph knows all the good spots.

Life is good.

Fair winds,

Franci and Stephen

 

.