One very hot day ... 19th June 2018
If you’ve ever been standing completely still in the breeze
and found sweat dripping off your chin, you have experienced the day we had
today.
Our journey started at 9:45 am when we untied from the dock
at Cape Fear Marina. The ebb current was
still flowing strongly such that we seemed to approach the bridge in
seconds. When we turned around and
headed upstream against the current we were scarcely making way. Several loops later, we heard the warning
signal from the bridge that indicates
that the span is about to open. We were on our way.
That way wasn’t very far in the first instance as we decided
to pull into the Port City Marina for diesel.
After the usual fooling around with filling the tanks and mopping up
spilled diesel, we departed the dock with some very timely help from the marina
guy. That was when it really started to
heat up. We proceeded down the river,
initially aided by the current, to the southerly approach to Snow’s Cut. There was once a “shortcut” from the north
but sadly a lack of dredging was followed by removal of the markers. Probably only a kayak can get through that
way now.
Speaking of shoal water, as we approached the entrance to
the cut itself we came upon a ketch with all sails up but completely
stationary. The shocking thing was that
it couldn’t have been more that about 50 ft from our position. Temporary markers litter the western end of
Snow’s Cut, making it look more like a slalom course than a waterway. Our
direction was now dead down wind and the sweat was dripping into my eyes and
from my chin.
As we emerged from the cut, we turned more to the north. We
experience adverse current until reaching Carolina Beach Inlet. Then it was favorable current for a while then
we would meet the flood coming in through the more northerly inlet and progress
would slow down.... By 3:15 we were anchored behind Wrightsville Beach and we
were over-heated and exhausted. We wonder
if we have lost our heat tolerance and our boating fitness? Tomorrow it’s about 70 miles (mostly in open
water) to the anchorage in Beaufort. How
will we manage it?
It would be remiss of me not to mention that on our way down
the Cape Fear River, we encountered the largest vessel I have ever seen. According to the AIS, it was 1099 feet long
and 144 feet wide. The containers were
stacked about 8 high above the deck and 16 wide across the beam. Naturally, we could see it coming from a long
way off! Mike grabbed his camera and had
it at the ready but... yesterday he had been taking photos in the rain and the
lenses were all fogged up.
Gloria
Carolina Beach, just north of "Snow's Cut". This is a beautiful section of the ICW.
Not all the houses are this fancy, but big long docks are everywhere
We anchored behind Wrightsville Beach close to the Masonboro inlet
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