NOAA Got One Right!

SHIP'S LOG:

THURSDAY: Wrightsville Beach, NC

I left the last place with the word "Beach" in the name pretty much for the rest of the trip. I wanted to get an early start but it was bloody cold. It got down into the high 40's overnight, which might not sound "bad" to most of you but it was a shock to my system. Unfortunately, I am in North Carolina which means that while there are less brodges to be opened so I can pass through than say Florida, these bridges open only on the hour and if you miss one it is a bloody long wait. The first one was in Wrightsville Beach and set the tone for the day. I got to the bridge as it was starting to close and once started they would not stop nor open again for an hour. Damn!

There is not a lot you can do waiting for a bridge to open. In this case, the current and the wind were moving toward the bridge at a good clip so it was not a matter of just sitting and bobbing about.I constantly had to helm the boat, keep it under control and keep a eye on the clock so that I would be close enough to the bridge at the right time so that the tender would open it. Too far away, no opening!

The next one was seven miles away at "Figure 8 Island" and I missed that by 15 minutes. So for 45 minutes I did the back and forth and up and down and bobbed about before I got through.

The next one was the incongruously named "Surf City Swing Bridge." Sound like it really should be in California but no, it is in good old North Carolina. I missed it by a mere 40 minutes. While at that bridge, I got into a conversation with the owner of "SUMMER SKIS," a trawler from Tiverton. RI. He and his wife have been doing the ICW for about 10 years, usually going to the Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale. I asked him why he didn't become a "Looper" and he said that going down the Mississippi River really didn't interest him in the least.

I missed the next bridge at Onslow Beach, not because I was too fast or too slow but because it is on the base at Camp LeJune and beyond it is the firing range that crossed the ICW and let's just say that the Marines were busy. That was a 45 minute wait. Just short of that bridge was Mile Hammock and I would have gone back and dropped the hook there but it was already jamed with boats some of which probably got the word at Onslow about the "gunnery practice" and decided to pack it in early. I and three others waited it out and eventually continued north.

There are a lot of small inlets and creeks along this stretch of the ICW and the all seem to produce shoals at the entrances into the ICW. It is angst producing in the least to watch the depth sounder rise 10 feet in an instant and it takes a moment to decide which way you are to turn.(always away!) There are also lots of curves in the ICW in North Carolina and that means you get a lot of practice "turning like a tug." Tugs with barges use the ICW here andthey groove the turns. You have to remember that the deep water is always on the outside of the turn. If you forget, just form you hand like the turn, left hand for a turn to starboard and right hand for a turn to port, and remember that the outside is where your knuckles are and there also is the deep water. It is always important to remember that "deep" is a relative term. Since there is not really a standard depth to the ICW, even though there is supposed to be. you can never be sure just how "deep" the "deep water" is. Some places 20 feet, some place 8.2 feet, then again you can drown in six inches of water and so long as the deep water exceeds 5 1/2 feet, I am happy.

I pulled into Swansboro and nchored about 5:30pm. This little harbor was crowded on my way down and I was concerned that the northeren migration might make it so again. Indeed, the two couples I ran into on Wrightsville Beach were heading here, as I am sure others would be and I didn't like to aspect of anchoring in a tight spot especially with the river current and the wind. When I turned the corner and headed into Swansboro, lo and behold, the anchorage was empty. The two couples from Wrightsville Beach were in the Marina and i had the place to myself. I got to pick my spot and a good thing too, as the weather for Friday was to be windy and rainy, and ABISHAG likes to dance in the wind.

FRIDAY, SWANSBORO, NC 34'41.156N/ 077'07.067W

I got a quick tour of Swansboro before the rain set in. Small and quait, it was a hamlet rather than a village. Its historic district was three books along one street and like I said, "Quaint." They do have great fudge here though. The rain and the wind came early and I had to contend with spend the day reading while ABISHAG danced in the rain. I could have made Morehead City but the place where I would anchor is too exposed and so there was no need. I stay and enjoyed a day of leisure!