Most of the time, we stay overnight in anchorages. A good
anchorage is quiet, calm, safe for both us and the boat, and free.
To find good anchorages, we rely on a series of books, “On
the Water Chart Guides,” written by Mark and Diana Doyle. The Doyles spend
their time exploring up and down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) and writing
about all of the features along the route, both treats and hazards, a job we
sincerely covet. But seriously, they are really terrific at what they do, and
we are very grateful to have their books.
We knew that we wanted to stop at or near Wilmington, NC,
where we have friends to visit. And I also wanted to visit (insisted on visiting!) my former
coworkers and friends in Cary, NC, near Raleigh. I had been watching Cary,
which is inland, as we circled it from all coastal spots since Elizabeth City, NC,
trying to figure out where we could leave the boat and rent a car for a day-visit. Most towns were fairly far away, and some were not big enough to have car
rental facilities.
Eventually it became clear that Wilmington would be the
jumping off point for my trip to Cary. So the hunt for a very secure anchorage
began. The best anchorages have protection from wind and waves from all
directions. Unfortunately, none of the ones listed near Wrightsville Beach (along
the ICW) were ideal. Maybe they’d be fine for a night or two, with calm
weather, but not good places to leave the boat.
On Tuesday morning, I decided to check online, and to my
amazement, I found a marina, up the Cape Fear River, in Wilmington itself, that
offered a FREE WEEK of dockage. Why free? Unclear, but after reading the
reviews (all good!), we called and made a reservation with Cape Fear Marina
(aka Bennett Brothers Yachts). Upon calling, we learned that there is a bridge
that we’d need to get through, the Isabelle Holmes Bridge, which opens only twice
each day, at 10 AM and 2 PM.
OK, that’s a little bit inconvenient, but not insurmountable. Most
bridges are “on request” or on a regular
schedule (hourly or every ½ hour). We planned to get to
the marina on Wednesday (11/5), after the 10:00 opening. The route looked simple
enough, but, of course, we were mistaken.
First, we found ourselves near Camp Lejeune while military
firing exercises were taking place. This is not entirely unknown, it was listed
in the Doyle’s book as a possibility. What it meant for us and the dozen or so
boats traveling southbound in that area with us, is that the ICW was closed. We
all had to stop for about a half hour, and wait for the path to reopen. Sort of
like a traffic jam, but one in which none of the vehicles actually have brakes.
So we idled, and made slow circles in the water to stay roughly in the same
place, without grounding outside of the channel or hitting one another.
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ICW Traffic Jam
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ICW closed, boats circling and waiting
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ICW closed, waiting to proceed
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Finally the wait was over and we were free to proceed. We
passed some of the military training vehicles off to the side of the channel.
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Military training vehicles
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We passed through an area with severe shoaling, where
several of the lead boats either didn’t understand the temporary channel
markers or didn’t believe them, since they had us moving sideways across the
channel. They became soft-grounded, but were quickly lifted by the rising tide,
and we were fortunate to benefit from their experience.
We proceeded south as some of the military kids came racing
by northbound, in the marine equivalent of open jeeps, and they also got stuck,
temporarily, on the shoal. Oops.
We passed a few more bridges and finally landed for the
night in a nice spoil pile anchorage just before sunset. Spoil piles are the
heaps of stuff that is picked up when the channel is dredged. The spaces
between them are wide and deep enough to anchor, and the piles themselves
provide some shelter from wind and waves, making them quiet places to sleep.
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Approaching the spoil pile anchorage at sunset
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On Wednesday, we woke up very
early, in the dark, and left the anchorage before daylight. We saw two dolphins at
the opening, as we rejoined the ICW, and several more throughout the day. The day
brought more bridges, including one swing bridge whose operator scolded us for
started through his gate before his opening was complete. Usually they swing
away, and boats pass through 2 lanes, one northbound and one southbound. He had
only one open lane. We had to back up quickly!
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| Figure
8 Island Bridge, 8:00 AM opening |
We passed through Wrightsville
Beach and started up the Cape Fear River toward Wilmington, from Snows Cut at
11:11, with the tide running strongly against us.
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In Snows Cut
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| Huge tower cranes at the Port of Wilmington, just south of Wilmington |
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City of Wilmington, seen under the
Wilmington Bridge
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We called Cape Fear Marina to let
them know we would not be there after the 10 AM opening, instead it would be
after the 2 PM opening. At 1:38 we reached the Isabelle Holmes Bridge. Whew! 22
minutes to spare!
Mike, the dock master, helped us
tie up at the face dock, where he had us stay until the tide slacked. We
checked in and toured the facilities.
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Cape Fear Marina office
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| Cape Fear Marina office |
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| Mike,
the Dock Master, at Cape Fear Marina |
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| Cape
Fear River, from the Marina |
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| Egret at Cape Fear Marina |
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Cape Fear Marina, with Isabelle Holmes Bridge
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A few hours later, we moved to
our slip, with help from Mike, one or more of the “permanent residents,” and a
couple of cops who stopped by at the end of their shift.
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| At our slip, with the Isabelle Holmes Bridge in the background |
We showered and got ready to
visit with our friend, June. (Showering is not something we take for granted,
living on a boat, with limited water. We don’t shower every day and when we do, it’s a wonderful
treat.)
June and Chuck have known each
other for many years. At one time, Chuck was one of several boarders in June’s
house in CT. She taught him how to cook fresh vegetables (“But they don’t come
with instructions!”). They became
friends and have stayed in touch over the years. June comes up to New England
each summer and has been out on Summer Wind with us several times.
We had dinner with June, her son,
Nick, (no longer a mischievous child, now a school teacher with his own class
full of them), and Nick’s new wife, Kate, a wedding planner. They are a sweet
and lovely young couple! It was great fun, and we also got new packages, having
used June’s address as our own for the past few weeks. Packages included my new
hat (see earlier blog post, “Point No Point”), and a new thermos for our
coffee.
The next day, Thursday, was
CHORES day. We had the boat's holding tanks pumped out, did our laundry, got a rental
car, and did grocery shopping. Went out to dinner in Wrightsville Beach (20
minutes away by car, over 3 hours by boat). Read blogs of other boaters. One of
our new acquaintances from Maryland started on their southern cruise, only to
have problems with their sails, followed shortly after by appendicitis! They
have our sympathy.
Friday we did errands and more
chores. We refilled one of our two propane tanks. We use propane onboard for
our gas stove, and we do a lot of cooking.
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Getting propane
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Getting propane, marine tanks are
smaller than gas-grill tanks
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We washed the boat outside and
defrosted the freezer, and rearranged everything in the fridge and freezer.
Does anyone remember having to defrost a freezer?
I baked brownies, made salad, and
cooked “Moroccan Chicken” (one of our favorite pressure cooker dishes) and
broccoli. We had June, Nick and Kate for dinner on the boat. It was a little
crowded but a lot of fun.
Saturday in Cary
On Saturday we got up very early
and drove to Cary, NC, two and a half hours away by car, to visit my friend,
Ritu, and her family, and our other friends that have all moved from CT to
Cary, NC. Cary is a tech hub, where they found good jobs, nice houses and a
wonderful community.
Several of us worked together at
ING in the mid 2000’s. At ING, QA code moves were done at lunchtime, so the
system was down, forcing us to leave our desks and actually go to the cafeteria
for lunch! We had such fun times. Each day, we would each bring some “topics”
for discussion, and we shared a lot of info. I learned about Indian holidays
and culture, and they learned how to cook a few American dishes. We also had
“tea time” in the late afternoon, and to this day I rarely make tea without
thinking of Ritu.
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Sandy, Chuck, Ritu, Sanvhi, Ainish
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| Vishal and Snigdha |
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| Ainish |
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| Vipresh |
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| Ritu and Sandy |
We spent the day with Ritu and her
husband, Vipresh, and had lunch and dinner with them. To my surprise, Chuck
loved the vegetarian dishes. We were treated to a piano and violin concert by their
son, Ainesh, including an original composition. I finally got to meet their daughter
Sanvhi, who is now 4. (I don’t care what Ritu says, I insist she named “Sanvhi”
after “Sandy”!)
It was also a treat to see
Snigdha and Vishal, and their two children, who also stopped by and had lunch
with us. And special thanks to Snigdha who answered my technical questions
about Blogspot, allowing me to finally get started with this blog!
Back in Wilmington
On Sunday we toured Wilmington
with Bill, who lives on his boat at Cape Fear Marina, and met up with June
again. We visited the shops of the “Cotton Exchange” and toured the Coast Guard
cutter “Diligence,” and once again had a lovely and much appreciated dinner at
June’s.
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| Bill,
June and Chuck |
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Diligence, the Coast Guard Cutter
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| June and Chuck |
Monday brought more chores and
errands. We washed the anchor, anchor chain and rode (rope), and cleaned pounds
and pounds of Chesapeake mud out of the anchor locker!
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| 100 feet of clean anchor chain |
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200 feet of clean anchor rode
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We did a little more laundry,
then we picked up a few more groceries and returned the rental car. We thought
one of our marine heads (toilets) was broken, and Mike was able to order spare
parts to arrive the next morning at the marina. Turns out we didn’t need them
yet, but we will, so they are great to have. And I was happy to be able to patronize
the marina.
On Tuesday we picked up our
parts, and paid our bill for electricity only. I still don’t know how CFM can
offer a week of dockage for free. I think a lot of
people come to Cape Fear Marina to get work done on their boats, and from all
accounts they are very happy with the work. It is a little out of the way and
not easy to get to, between the river current and the bridge, so offering the
free week of dockage gets people to visit, and gets the word out. And quite a
few people end up staying much longer.
It’s a wonderful place. I asked if we’d be eligible to take
advantage of the free week offer again, and the finance person said to just
check online to see if the special is being offered.
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Mike, one terrific dock master
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Bill, temporarily homeless, while
having work done on his boat
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| Leaving our slip |
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| Through the Isabelle Holmes Bridge, with the Marina in the background |
We left in time for the 2 PM bridge
opening, and with the river current running in our direction. I hope we’ll be
able to come to Cape Fear Marina (Bennett Brothers Yachts) again in the spring.
We’d love to see more of Wilmington, and see our old and new friends again!
Sandy & Chuck
on s/v Summer Wind
