Wed 24 Nov – Wrightsville Beach – The day started out perfectly, left Swansboro on a falling tide and got a big push from the current all day. Tide was high when I had to one of my least favorite shallowing spots… Onslow Bay, but no problem this time with the high tide. The plan was to get to Carolina Beach today so that I could catch my weather window and sail out the Cape Fear. I was cruising and everything was looking good until… I got in sight of the Figure Eight Bridge 5 minutes before the opening and the bridge tender would not hold the bridge open, I was ½ mile out. He made me wait an extra half hour for the opening at 3:30, which meant that I would not make the Wrightsville Bridge opening at 4:00 and would have to wait until 5:00, with sundown at 5:10. Reluctantly I found a spot along the ICW in front of the Wrightsville Bridge and dropped anchor for the night. Breakfast – 3 breakfast bars, 2 cups of tea, Lunch – 2 packs of crackers, Dinner – Pasta Primavera (freeze dried)
Thu 25 Nov (Thanksgiving) – Holden Beach – Missing the bridges meant that I’d have to motor for 3 hours just to reach where I was going to have been anchored at Carolina Beach. Along with that checking the weather forecast showed that my weather window shrunk from 3 days to one and I was going to miss half of that because I was further away from the Cape Fear. Now I had two options; anchor and wait for another weather window or continue south on the ICW, I chose the latter since the next weather window seemed to be about a week away. Breakfast – 2 cups of tea, 2 breakfast bars, Lunch – Cheese Sandwich, Dinner – Turkey Spam in Penna with an olive oil spiced sauce. It was delicious. Now for you Spam haters out there, Spam is nothing more than spiced bologna in a brick form. It has some sort of meat protein, I think… at least that is what is says.
Fri 26 Nov – Waccamaw River – Started out determined to get at least half way to Georgetown, SC. That was my new jumping off point for an ocean trip to Jacksonville, FL. Weather window opened up from Sunday Evening until possibly Wednesday, plenty of time to make it with a cushion. When I work up it was freezing, no literally freezing, the coldest morning of the entire trip and that is saying something because it has been cold every damn morning since New Bern. I got up early so I could be in Georgetown and get a number of things done before I go outside (inside is the ICW, outside is the ocean). I slid open the hatch and saw, for the first time ever mind you, ICE, yes ice was all over the deck. Slip and break a hip ice, loose your footing and slide overboard ice. That kind of ice. So, I went back inside and looked at my phone to see what the temperature was, damn its 28… now that’s REALLY cold. Breakfast – 2 cups of tea, Lunch – Leftover Chili, Dinner – Finished the Lasagna, if this was served in a foo-foo restaurant they would call it Deconstructed Lasagna. You take it apart layer by layer and placed it in a frying plan to heat it up. Still tastes the same.
I do have to say that one of the absolute joys of sailing or boating is the appearance of dolphin breaking water and diving under the boat as you travel.