North Carolina Cruising

Southport is home to the Provision Company, a marshside restaurant that operates on the honor system for drinks. You help yourself at the refridgerator and tell the cashier what you've had when you leave.



Interesting scenery along the 20 mile intercoastal run from Southport to Wrightsville Beach. You can really see the change from the lowland marshes to the pine flats further north.


The ride from Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort,NC was against us again, 15-20 knots of wind, exactly behind us. Do the winds only come from the NE or SW on the east coast? We were able to motor sail and again watch a dolphin show along side the boat.









In Beaufort and Oriental, we spent time with Ryan and Sabrina. They joined us Friday and we toured Beaufort, NC, with its charming old homes on the waterfront. The city docks are on the main street of the town and provide a great view of town and the still wild island opposite. There we took self-guided tour of a nautical museum and an old burying ground.
Rick and I celebrated our 44th anniversary there. Saturday, Rick, Ryan, and Sabrina motored up the intercoastal to Oriental. Not much happening in Oriental, despite the presence of over 1,000 sailboats, so we drove to New Bern, which offers a great variety of places to tour, a replica of the Royal Governors home,Tryon Palace; beautiful shaded streets, with old homes, and interesting history presentations given by costumed docents. Unfortunately, we were too late for the tours, but enjoyed the general ambiance of the town, cocktails at agreat bar/restaurant in an old warehouse called Morgan's Tavern and Grill and dinner at MJ's Raw Bar with wonderful seafood and a unique customer. A mallard regularly appears at the door, peeking in, until the waitstaff bring him crackers and water. After he has eaten his fill, he flies home.

Going North....Very Slowly

We started as per plan, leaving Boca Chica for a short sail to Boot Key Harbor. Boating, however, never goes according to plan. Our GPS began blinking and disappearing. The wind was absent. So we motored to Boot Key. The following day we enjoyed a wonderful sail to Rodriguez Key where we anchored. In the morning, we watched a beautiful sunrise over a mirrored ocean, lovely, but that meant no wind and a long motor to No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne. From there, we stopped at Fort LAuderdale, to fix the ailing E-80 and enjoy our favorite port. Unfortunately, we missed the weather window and our plan to catch the Gulf Stream and sail to Beaufort SC in 2 days went out the window. The winds were 15-20 out of the NE, the direction we were trying to go and the 5-7 foot waves slowed us to the point where we realized we couldn't get there, without exhausting ourselves and our gas! So we discovered the joys of the Intercoastal Waterway and anchored our way north via Lake Woth, Fort Pierce, Cocoa, Daytona, St. Augustine, where we stopped long enough to have dinner with the Cloughs, and into a marina at Fernadina Beach. The trip from Jacksonville to Fernandina wa hair raising. The lowest tides of the year. We ran aground in the center of the channel with 100 yards of shallow water in every direction. Shortly after resuming our efforts, the depth gage read 5.8. We draw 5.8! So we turned around to wait out the tide in slightly deeper water. Finally an angel power boater came by and lead us through 5 miles of shallow water with directions and his depth sounder. We arrived at Fernadina in time for sunset.







The sail from Fernandina to Beaufort was fine. Lovely wind from the right direction.At Beaufort, SC, we spent time with Gail and Kia Malott at their home and on our boat. Unfortunately, family illness meant we left our boat at a friend's slip in Hilton Head and took a 2 week trip to Illinois.