Goodbye Southport!

Date:                                  April 23, 2013

Days on the Cruise:             29

From:                                Southport Marina, Southport, NC

To:                                    Harbour Village Marina, Hampstead, NC

Statute Miles:                    42.0

Time:                               4.25 Hours

Cumulative Miles:             954.5

On Board:                         Chuck, Susan, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut

We are in Hampstead, NC near Topsail Beach, Tonight

Maggie is waiting on the Mechanic this morning!

The mechanic showed up at 9:30 AM with the new battery isolator and the old alternator. He had everything installed and put back together by about 11:30. This included a trip to NAPA to get new "boots" for the isolator connections, which the store did not have. The existing boots were burned through pretty badly. The old isolator was also burned, or, as the mechanic put it, "fried" pretty badly. Anyway, we started the engine to check out the fix and we got 12.8 volts pretty consistently on the voltmeter. The fix was deemed successful!

Old Battery Isolator "Fried"

Old Battery Isolator "Fried"

Old Battery Isolator "Fried"

Old Battery Isolator "Fried"

Susan and I lowered the radar mast because we had two 20' bridges to go under on the trip today. The radar mast is 20' above the water, and with it down, we are at 16'-4" above the water. The 20' bridges that we had to go under only open on the hour, so with the lowered mast, we don't have to have the bridges open for us!

We traveled with the Radar Mast down all day today

We left the slip and then refueled and got a holding tank pump out. I thought I saw Murphy jump ship when the electrical problem was resolved. He was smiling and seemed very proud that his presence had been acknowledged over the past 4 or 5 days. Undoubtedly he is hitch hiking Northbound to seize the next opportunity to join us back on the boat. If you see him, don't pick him up!

At 12:11 we were away from the dock. We had 40 miles to go to get to our marina at Harbour Village before it closed. 

The Cape Fear River seemed tame today. Just a light chop, and we bumped the speed up to 2500 RPM and started to buck the outgoing tide. We made anywhere from 8-11 MPH until we got to Snow's Cut which is the transition from the Cape Fear River over to the ICW along the beach. Once we cleared the 2.5 mile cut, we jacked speed up and averaged almost 10 mph for the trip. This came at a huge fuel expense. We burned over 3 times the gallons per hour that we normally do. So, while it was great to run fast, we can't do this very frequently or we will blow our fuel budget!

Heading North on the Cape Fear River. It is very wide!

Passing the Ferry from Southport to an Old Fort North of town

Entering Snow's Cut with a VERY Shallow spot dead ahead

As we passed Wrightsville Beach, we saw our friend's on "Blue Heron" as they were docked right beside the ICW. Another 16 miles and we were at our destination for tonight. 

Approaching Wrightsville Beach, NC

Wrightsville Beach, NC

The 20' High Bridge at Wrightsville Beach

Passing "Blue Heron" at Wrightsville Beach Marina

We ran very close to the Ocean today and saw it to our starboard side many times.

View out to the Ocean from one of many inlets that we passed

View out to the Ocean from one of many inlets that we passed

View out to the Ocean from one of many inlets that we passed

View out to the Ocean from one of many inlets that we passed

So we made 42 miles in about 4 hours and 15 minutes. We are at a great marina that is quiet and calm.

Entrance to the marina looking back toward the ICW

Inside the marina at Harbour Village

Inside the Marina at Harbour Village

Looking East toward the Ocean and Topsail Beach

After we got tied up, we attacked the salt buildup on the boat that we got from running at "warp" speed (for our trawler, anyway) up the Cape Fear River. The spray must have been significant because the salt was everywhere. It was as if someone had taken a salt shaker and dumped salt all over the boat. It was most noticeable on the stainless steel rails, and when you grabbed hold of one, you got a handful of white salt. Plenty of fresh water at the dock and some Orapine boat soap did the trick.

Dinner tonight was onboard after several nights in Southport at great restaurants. We enjoyed staying in and eating. We must be near a Camp LeJeune training field because we saw several Marine Corps Cobra Helicopter Gunships working North and West of the marina!

Tomorrow we are on to Swansboro, NC and Casper's Marina, which is only 37 miles North. We have to go past Camp LeJeune and they close the ICW sometimes for live fire exercises, so we shall be very interested in how we make headway tomorrow.

Thanks for Reading!