Wilmington rendezvous

We are underway downbound on the Cape Fear River, with Wilmington, North Carolina astern of us as I begin typing. It's a short day, owing to a late start on account of the tide, so I expect I will not finish this until tonight or perhaps tomorrow. There is much to report in the nearly dozen days since my last post, including an impromptu one-week detour to Wilmington.

Stacey, Dave, Sean, and Louise at the aView on the roof of the aLoft Wilmington for sunset cocktails. Photo: Dave Rowe

When last I posted here we were at the R.E. Mayo dock in Hobucken, NC. We had a short walk around the "neighborhood" with Stacey and Dave before retiring to our respective boats for dinner. We had not really expected to reconnect here, having said our goodbyes in Washington, but we still cobbled together some after-dinner cocktails followed by ice cream aboard Vector. They were planning an early departure and we again said our goodbyes.

Vector at the R.E. Mayo Seafood dock in Hobucken. I'm dyin'.

In the morning we decided to take another short walk, in anticipation of being trapped aboard for the evening. I stepped off the boat onto the dock, and a large chunk of the dock broke off and fell to the water below, nearly taking me with it. I still had a hand on the rail of the boat and caught myself, hovering for what seemed like an eternity with one hand on the rail and one on the dock, my feet dangling above the frigid water.

That wood in the water is a 3"x3"x3' chunk that came off the edge of the board just next to my power cord.

Louise, who was still on the boat but right behind me, grabbed my arm and held on for dear life while I managed, with effort, to get a foot back on the dock. Had I gone all the way in to the 48°F water, I figure I would have had less than a minute of mobility to somehow maneuver myself, between the boat and the crusty pilings, all the way to the stern, deploy the swim ladder, and hoist myself aboard. Keeping that from happening cost me a pulled muscle in my back that's still sore, and I banged up my shin in the fall. We still took our walk, because now I needed to walk it off.

We both really like the way the sunlight through our round window imprinted atop the wall hanging Louise made.

We got underway around 11 for the run to Beaufort, NC, which gave me a bit of time to sit and recuperate before I had to man the maneuvering watch. Winds were also forecast to decrease throughout the day, making a later start more attractive. Still, things were pretty choppy for the first half of the cruise, especially when we made the westbound turn onto the Neuse. That's where we caught back up to Stinkpot, who had been so badly pummeled after making the turn earlier that they ducked into Broad Creek for shelter.

From our dock in Wilmington the sun set just below this bridge.

By the time we were passing Broad Creek, things were laying down rapidly, and we passed along our report. They got back under way some time later, lest they be trapped on Broad for the better part of a week. Thus they ended up behind us, and instead of making their goal of Swansboro, ended their day in Adams Creek. We made it all the way to Beaufort, dropping the hook in our usual, always-available spot (map).

I really liked the way these candy-cane light posts at our marina were decorated.

We splashed the tender and headed ashore for dinner at Queen Anne's Revenge, a casual joint with a decent menu and good drafts. We like their house porter, aptly named Small Craft Advisory, and their Vienna lager, which is almost brown. I particularly like their Italian sandwich. After dinner we enjoyed strolling through the town, nicely decorated for the holidays. Expecting an early departure in the morning, possibly offshore, we decked the tender as soon as we got home, and hit the hay early.

Louise being whimsical with the holiday decorations in Beaufort.

Monday morning we were up and ready for a pre-dawn departure offshore to Wrightsville Beach. But the forecast, which has still looked OK when we turned in, had deteriorated overnight, and the risk of getting caught outside in uncomfortable conditions persuaded us to wave off in favor of the inside route. That still meant getting underway at first light, because the Onslow Beach Bridge in Campe Lejeune is under construction, and only opening from noon to 1pm on weekdays. If you miss it, you have to wait until 5, when it's dark.

Pre-sunrise over Taylor Creek, Beaufort as we make ready to weigh.

We made the bridge with just ten minutes to spare, and a half hour later we were pulling in to the anchorage of Mile Hammock Bay. For our first time ever we found only one boat anchored ahead of us, and had our pick of spots. We dropped the hook (map) and settled in for a relaxing afternoon aboard. Six more boats came in before morning.

The first rays of sunrise as we turn on to the ICW in Morehead City.

It's next to impossible to time arrival on the top of an hour to the Figure Eight Bridge from that far away, but we took our best guess and added ten minutes, so we were weighing anchor at 8:10 in the morning. Right about then, Stinkpot passed by on the ICW, having made the Onslow Beach bridge before they locked down for the day. Two sailboats that left the anchorage shortly before us promptly ran aground crossing the tricky New River Inlet, and we heard Dave warning a third who was about to suffer the same fate.

Sean, Louise, Stacy, and Dave at the Marina Grill, Wilmington, on a stormy evening.

We have better-informed situational awareness nowadays and we crossed the inlet without drama, threading our way around the grounded vessels, one of which had moved to deep water and dropped the hook, presumably to inspect for or deal with damage. Ironically the two boats who grounded had gotten into a shouting match about anchoring too close when they had both arrived, well after dark.

The Wilmington Railroad Museum in the old ACL depot is festively lit for the holidays.

Once underway I called every marina on our route to our anchorage in Wrightsville Beach to ask about pumping out, since we had been unable to do so in Washington. Of five calls, only one marina was open with a working pump-out. We cleared the Wrightsville Beach Bridge at 2pm and immediately pulled over and into an inside slip at the Wrightsville Beach Marina, where a pump-out cost us $20 plus tip. We topped up the water, too. There is really no excuse for such a hefty fee, but they have you over a barrel -- we had no choice. At least both the pump-out and the water fill were lightning fast, one of the strongest pumps we've used.

Dolphins off our bow en route to Wrightsville Beach. Always a good omen for mariners.

The anchorage was pretty busy, with a big blow coming in, but we found a spot to squeeze in and dropped the hook (map). Stinkpot, meanwhile, had perfect tidal conditions to make it all the way to their final destination of Wilmington, even though we had hoped they'd spend a night in Wrightsville for one last fling. We splashed the tender and headed ashore to our usual haunt, Tower 7 Baja Grill, for an early dinner; at 5pm the place was nearly empty. We decked the tender as soon as we returned, on account of the incoming wind storm and in the event we wanted to move to a more protected anchorage in the morning.

Our view from anchor. Wrightsville Beach is always festive at the holidays.

While we were at dinner, we got texts from Dave and Stacey, who were sitting at the Copper Penny Pub in Wilmington, sharing the extensive beer list, and clearly trying to influence our cruising plans. We were pretty firmly set on continuing south, albeit after another full day to wait out the windstorm, but the invitation to Wilmington worked on us throughout the evening.

Dropping hints. Athletic is Louise's favorite non-alcoholic brew.

Wednesday morning the anchorage was already rough when we got up, and the bulk of the storm was yet to arrive. We were in a tight, overfull anchorage with everyone, us included, on a short scope, and we knew we had to get out of Dodge. With wind out of the south, our choices were limited -- move to a borrow pit around the corner and hope for the best, or hope to find a bit of space in the even  tighter anchorage down at Carolina Beach. Continuing to Southport by  southing on the Cape Fear was out of the question in gale force.

Wilmington goes all-out with the lights.

That sealed it for us. While we could not go downriver on the Cape Fear, we could still go upriver, with the wind and waves at our backs. We held back to have a fair tide at Snows Cut and upbound on the Cape Fear, which had us weighing in 20+ knots of wind, and steaming out of the anchorage in driving rain. By the time we reached Carolina Beach we were in 25 knots gusting to 30, and we found a full knot against us in Snows Cut, even though the chart said we should have three quarters of a knot behind us. The wind was piling so much water up in the Cape Fear that it was escaping via Carolina Beach.

Gale force winds.

We had weighed just a hair too early at Wrightsville, and made better time than expected to Snows Cut, and that put us in the Cape Fear with the last of the ebb still flowing. There was no way to anchor in this stink to wait it out, so we just slow-rolled upriver with a half knot against us. That turned out to be a blessing; the tide caught up to us in Wilmington and we had it behind us for the last couple of miles, but if we had arrived any later the current would have added substantially to the challenge of docking.

Approaching Wilmington.

By the time we arrived we were in gale conditions. The marina assigned us a face dock perpendicular to the wind; I just pulled up 20' off the dock and the wind did the rest, pinning us to our fenders. We needed to move back about 20' to avoid being in the mud at low tide, but we had to wait until the storm passed a couple of hours later to move at all. Once settled in (map), we remained in that spot all week, the minimum stay to get a better rate. Our BBQ grill cover was a casualty of the storm, leaping off the boat sometime after we tied up, and the wind had also blown the bagged e-bike over on deck, no mean feat. Radio calls about boats dragging in the Wrightsville Beach anchorage confirmed we made the right choice to get underway.

Horse-drawn city tour.

We've been talking about a stop in Wilmington for some time now, and it moved up on our list after our friends Cherie and Chris aboard Y-Not spent a month there earlier this year and provided very favorable reports. They were earlier in the season when more things were open, and also managed a better dock rate than we did, but it moved it off the back burner. That combined with Stacey and Dave egging us on, unfavorable weather for southing, and lack of any other real agenda this season pushed us over the edge.

Festive tree on the waterfront. My camera could not really capture it.

We're glad we made the stop. A week was not really long enough -- there is a month's worth of restaurants downtown -- and the marina's location put half of downtown out of range for Louise. That would be better when the free downtown trolley is running (it's out of service now until April), but if we return I will seriously consider trying to find a spot to anchor, because the free city day docks are a lot closer to everything. It is a shame the city no longer permits overnight use.

Dave, Stacey, Louise, and Sean bundled up on a chilly evening. OK, Stacey and Dave are Mainers. They did not even bring hats. Photo: Dave Rowe

We ended up having dinner with the crew of Stinkpot literally every night, which is uncharacteristic for us, but it was what appealed to all of us at the time. Dave cooked for us two nights (and a final pre-departure lunch) and the other nights we enjoyed going out. We started with the Marina Grill on arrival day, with the weather not cooperative to go much further, and the food was decent with a nice draft selection, if a bit overpriced. Of course we had to sample Copper Penny after being lured with their draft list, and we dined there twice, as befits Stacey and Dave's favorite joint, both times excellent. We also enjoyed the Dough House Pizza Company and Fat Tony's Italian restaurant, and we had drinks at the rooftop aView bar and restaurant atop the aLoft hotel. I filled my growler at Ironclad Brewery and bought some retail cans at Ponysaurus Brewing, which looked to have a nice food menu as well.

We've upped our standards; up yours. Wilmington's oldest bar, Barbary Coast.

There is no convenient full-service grocery in Wilmington, it being several miles out to Food Lion and the like, but there is a DGX a short walk from the dock, and they had most of what we needed. The slightly farther Village Market had Louise's preferred non-alcoholic beer. The lack of a decent anchorage and of close-by essential (read: not touristy tchochke) retail are what keeps this from being, for us, a more desirable stop worthy of more frequent or longer stays.

New power outlet, and heater with new toggle switches replacing a rotary selector.

With a week-long stop, of course, I had to chip away at more of the project list, which has a tendency to remain the same length even as I check things off. One of our space heaters that we've been using in this cold weather had its selector switch fail, so I had to jury-rig around that, and while I was at it, I installed a new power outlet in the master bath to relocate that heater to a more convenient spot.

Drone show. This conical spiral formation was, at least, 3D.

I tried to walk a few miles every day, and often Dave, Stacey, or both would accompany me. We had a group outing to a "fair" of sorts staged at The Cove, which is a dock full of identical houseboats that are on the market as vacation rentals; the fair comprised only a half dozen vendors, but we got some free wine tasting and hot cocoa out of the deal. Dave and I spent a pleasant couple of hours at the railroad museum. And one night we all watched the holiday drone show from Vector's boat deck, but many of the formations we edge-on from our vantage (they were aimed at the downtown waterfront) and we had a guessing-game as to what they were. Santa? Gnome? Grinch? Dave, who had already made us dinner, baked cookies for the occasion.

We saw many of the formations, like this one, edge-on. Is this Santa? The Nutcracker? Who knows.

Looking ahead to our next segment, I spent a bit of time doing routes and seeing where we might be for Christmas dinner. Charleston was at the perfect distance, but our preferred marina there had no room, and we're a bit late to make holiday dinner reservations anyplace decent. I settled for reservations in Georgetown, just four days' journey from Wilmington.

"The Cove" line-up of 40 two-story vacation-rental houseboats.

As we reached the end of our prepaid week, and with about four extra days of slop in the schedule for a Georgetown Christmas, we contemplated asking the marina to prorate another couple of days and extending our stay. But the mighty Cape Fear would not cooperate; a Wednesday departure would let us leave at 1pm for a fair tide all the way to Southport, but by Thursday we'd miss either the tide or the daylight, and staying until the tide became fair in the morning would make it a made scramble to Georgetown on time. So after a morning walk and a nice lunch aboard Stinkpot we again said our goodbyes and dropped lines at the turn of the tide for the downhill run.

This artifact from the railroad museum documents the move of Atlantic Coast Line's HQ from Wilmington to Jacksonville, FL. Long-time readers and many boaters will recognize this waterfront building, now the HQ of CSX, successor company to ACL.

Update: It is now Thursday evening and we are yet another day further south. We arrived in Southport yesterday evening with plenty of daylight after a speedy run down the Cape Fear, but none of our anchorage or free dock options panned out at dead low tide. Moreover our usual backup plan, at the Harbour Village Marina, where we like the on-site Italian restaurant, could not accommodate us due to dredging. We ended up taking a dock at the Southport Marina (map), a bit spendy for us but we were out of options. That, at least, let us have a nice walk into town, where we had dinner at a burger joint called the Blue Cow Grille, which was quite good and had some nice drafts.

We overtook the tug Atlantic Coast, towing a mud scow on a short wire, in the Cape Fear. He hailed us after we passed to compliment Vector's sharp lines and to ask if we had done the Great Loop.

This morning the marina ran us out to the grocery to pick up some milk; they used to have a courtesy car, but liability issues have forced them to drive you around instead. For what they charge for dockage here it is the least they could do. I took a short walk around town, and we dropped lines just after 10 for a fair current along our first leg, and some tidal help at the very tricky Lockwoods Folly. With several extra days to Georgetown we thought we might stop short today at Shallotte Inlet, where there is a waterfront joint we want to try some day, but they were closed for the season so we pressed on.

Fittingly, this is the Christmas House in Southport.

We are now anchored at Bird Island, just off the Little River (map). In the past we've anchored a little closer to the ICW on the Little River itself, because this anchorage is often crowded, but today we were the first here. As I type there are two other boats with us. It's actually calmer and more pleasant here than our other spot, so we'll make more of an effort to work our way in here in the future. Having a known-good track is always a help.

We had fog in Wilmington just before we departed, and we nearly drove right into it again coming in to Southport -- you can see it off our bow. It burned off just as we arrived.

Tonight's dinner was grilled chicken, and in keeping with what I said earlier about the project list, even that turned into a project. About ten minutes after starting the grill to warm it up I checked the battery meter to see how much we dropped, intending to start the generator when we were down 20%  or so. The batteries had hardly been touched, so I went outside to find the grill just barely warmer than ambient. Louise had noticed a power flicker a few minutes after I started it -- that would have been the heating element snapping in two.

Of course you park your police horses in the police garage.

The heating element has gone out like this before. Twice before, actually, both times while we were in the Bahamas. After the second time we deemed the grill element a critical spare, and so I had one tucked away. It did take me fifteen minutes in nitrile gloves to replace the element and get the grill going again, so dinner was delayed by a half hour. Another replacement grill element is now in my Amazon cart.

Dave and Stacey joined me on my final walk, out to the Bellamy Mansion. Photo: Dave Rowe.

Now that we're here we will just proceed to Georgetown at normal pace, which will have us there in two days. At which time we will decide if we want to hang there through Christmas, or press on to Charleston and hope to score a holiday meal somewhere in town. Between now and then I will call around.

Vector departing Wilmington. Photo: Dave Rowe.

It's quiet here, with the only sound the surf a short distance away. It would be dark, too, if not for our own holiday lights. In the morning we will weigh anchor and run the gantlet that is Myrtle Beach. We should be in Georgetown in two days. Whenever we figure out what we are doing I will post it here, but if you don't hear from me before then, we wish all our family, friends, and readers a very happy holiday.

Gratuitous sunset pic from the roof of the aLoft. The current is wicked in the Cape Fear and you can see it racing by.