058: North Carolina: Part 1

On Easter Sunday we took off early, headed north towards Myrtle Beach. We soon entered the AICW's 22-mile long "ditch" which stretches from Socastee Creek, SC to Little River, SC. Completed in 1936, this is the longest stretch of man-made canal on the entire 2,000-mile AICW and the final segment to be completed after more than a century of work. On this stretch, we made a last-minute decision to stop at Barefoot Landing, which is a shopping, restaurant and entertainment mecca for tourists to the North Myrtle Beach area. Having been to Myrtle Beach for golf multiple times, I was curious to see what it was all about and the free “day use” docks didn’t hurt!  It was fun to get off the boat and see something new--plenty of shopping, restaurants and entertainment options, including a theatre and live music venue, carousel, and a long boardwalk surrounding a lake. Lulu's had a restaurant there with a similar setup to Gulf Shores, AL--beach volleyball, a ropes course, children's playground, etc. Matt and Kathy went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and Nancy and I walked around in search of ice cream.

Ride up to MB

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Free dock:

 

Barefoot Landing

North of North Myrtle Beach the AICW became very busy--it was chock-a-block with tour boats, cruise ships, floating casinos, and fishing charters not to mention pleasure-boaters out enjoying this beautiful Easter Sunday. We passed the 100-ft "Continental Shelf," a vessel that bills itself as the "Largest and Finest Party Fishing Boat" in the area, the "The Big M Casino" Ships I and Ship II with day and evening gaming cruises, and the Atlantic Star, another large fishing charter. We continued on until we reached the Calabash River anchorage, but it was exposed and unappealing--subject to constant waking.

Big boats near MB:

We opted for the Bird Island Anchorage, which was about 3 miles off the ICW close to the Little River Inlet. As we approached the anchorage, we realized that we had crossed the state line and were now in North Carolina!

We anchored off the Bird Island Coastal Reserve, more than 1,000 acres of salt marsh, white sandy beaches and meandering creeks that was saved from development in the 1990's. Nancy, Kathy and I dinghied to the beach and went in search of the “Kindred Spirits Mailbox.” We walked 3/4-mile walk from Sunset Beach to the east and finally found it. The mailbox has a notebook and pens inside, and the idea is to write down your innermost wishes, thoughts, hopes and dreams, and send them into the ether. For over 40 years it was unknown as to who put the mailbox there, until it was revealed that a man named Frank Nesmith and his "lady friend" were the co-founders. The mailbox has inspired many, including novelist Nicholas Sparks, whose 2018 novel Every Breath features the Kindred Spirits Mailbox and nearby Sunset Beach.

Bird Island:

Kathy and Dave sending out our thoughts and wishes:

Sunrise at Bird Island:

 

On April 1st, we left early for Southport, NC as the destination. We almost got hit when a fishing boat approaching full-tilt crossed in front of us at the last minute at the last minute in front of our bow from port to starboard, nearly sideswiping us and coming awfully close to hitting a family in a small fishing boat that was anchored just outside the channel to our starboard. WHY??

We arrived in Southport late afternoon and tied up at Morningstar Marina and met up with friends of the Murphy’s, Bob and Lynn Munches. 

We headed back to the boat and went straight to bed. Unfortunately, we never had the opportunity to explore Southport, which is billed as a favorite Looper stop. Dave and I decided to head out this morning and travel to Wilmington, NC and stay a few days to wait out a coming storm. We therefore left the Murphys temporarily for them to visit with their friends.  Nancy had come down with the cold that the rest of us had just shook off, so we declined an invitation to dinner and went on our own to a very mediocre meal at Provision Company.

The Murphy’s stayed at Southport for a few days to visit with their friends and we went up to Wilmington up the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear River features a deep-water channel (50-ft plus) servicing the Port of Wilmington. The only scary moment came as we were passing the Port with four ocean-going cargo ships docked on our starboard side. In this area, the channel is narrow and closely parallels the Port. Nancy was at the helm and prudently checked the AIS status of each of the vessels, and all said "Docked" or "Moored." No problem!  As we approached, one of the huge cargo ships now had "daylight" between it and the dock, headed towards us. WTF!! It had just left the dock with absolutely no warning--did it see us at all?  Supposed to sound the horn before leaving the dock, he finally sounded a “one whistle” out in the channel.  I responded back with a one whistle and we passed without incident.   Scary though.

Big boys on Cape Fear:

We arrived at Port City Marina, where we intended to stay for three nights. It was a new facility with offices on the first floor of a five-story residential complex in an area known as Pier 33, billed as Wilmington's finest luxury waterfront community.   Nice setup.    Nancy’s cold was in full attack mode, so we didn’t do much but eat in the dockside Mexican restaurant. 

Hygge at the dock:

We felt safe:

On April 3^rd, Nancy was a bit better, but the weather was really bad with the rain and wind limiting our abilities to sightsee.  Nevertheless, we made the 15-minute walk to the downtown historic district via the Riverwalk--a nearly two-mile walkway alongside the Cape Fear River which passed right by our boat. Even in this inclement weather, we passed several dog walkers, runners and sightseers. We walked by a cool floating tiny-houseboat community called The Oasis@The Cove at the opposite end of the Marina. The 11am scheduled horse-drawn history tour was cancelled because it was too wet for the horses, we made the executive decision to UBER to the Battleship North Carolina, a floating museum and WWII Memorial, now permanently docked across the Cape Fear River from downtown Wilmington--something that Dave has been looking forward to.

The 35,000-ton Battleship North Carolina is an authentically restored WWII vessel that participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater of operations including Guadalcanal, the Philippines Sea, Iwo Jima, and Tokyo Bay, earning 15 battle stars and becoming the highest decorated American battleship of WWII." In 1958, the Navy announced its intention to scrap the decommissioned battleship, which had been sitting in Bayonne, NJ. The USS North Carolina floating museum is here today because two Wilmington natives, realizing the ship's historical importance, helped start a statewide fundraising campaign "Save our Ship" to purchase the ship and bring it to Wilmington's waterfront. NC State and local governments as well as thousands of citizens including children joined forces to raise the $345,000 needed. At the time, incoming governor Terry Sanford suggested getting the schools involved, so every child who brought in a dime got a pass for free admission. In 1961, the ship made its way to its current Wilmington location.

It was great fun to wander the nine different decks, seeing how the 2,300 sailors and officers lived and learning about their work. The information provided was great and, in many instances, had first-person testimonials and/or photos taken at each location. The tour was self-guided, allowing visitors to wander at their leisure.

She is a big girl:

The operating room:

We called for an UBER back to downtown and were fortunate to get a ride with an enthusiastic Wilmington native, a long-haired and tattooed man, who said "I left looking for something else and realized there was nowhere better than here," which is a lovely sentiment regarding one's hometown. He recommended "The Basics" for lunch, which was one of the few restaurants on this trip that we really thought was special. 

On the way back to the marina, we spotted a red caboose and the Wilmington Railroad Museum, so we went inside. While there, we learned that the area we were standing on was once the terminus of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad which, when completed in 1840, was the longest railroad in the world with161.5 miles of track. The line was essential to the Confederacy during the Civil War, moving goods and supplies from the single open Confederate port of Wilmington to Robert E. Lee's Army in Virginia and elsewhere. The fall of Wilmington in January 1865 during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, which occurred 20 miles downriver, blocked the Confederacy's access to the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, becoming a major factor leading to Lee's surrender at Appomattox.   One of the exhibits had an error in it, noting the Union general who captured Fort Fisher as “General Schofiel,” as opposed to Schofield.   I pointed the error out to the museum manager who was thankful (that makes two museum exhibits I’ve corrected, but hey, wrong is wrong.)

 Caboose:

For the kids:

The rain began to come down in droves, and we headed back to the boat as Nancy still wasn’t near 100%. 

On the 4^th, the weather was better, and we went back to The Basics for breakfast and took our delayed horse-drawn carriage tour. The tour was rather short and gave an overview of the historic district. All of the original streets were brick but had been covered up. One by one, the city was removing the asphalt to expose the original. There were also several streets made of ballast.

 At this point, I headed back to the boat to do work and Nancy grabbed an UBER to Airlie Gardens, the former Winter estate of Sarah and Pembroke Jones--located in the Wrightsville Beach area overlooking Bradley Creek. She was excited to see the 67-acre garden: There were azaleas in abundance that were somewhat past their peak, but pretty; as well as several formal garden areas.  She then went over to the Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens at the top of Market Street.  The colonial era Burgwin-Wright Houe was built in 1770 for merchant, planter (read: slave owner) and government official John Burgwin, who was born in Hereford, England (1730). His family estate in England was promised to his elder brother, so as the second son he was forced to make his own fortune and left for Charleston in 1750. Where he was employed as a merchant. He soon married the daughter of a wealthy planter, Margaret Haynes, and two years later, her family transferred to him a 1,000-acre plantation known as the Hermitage

Wilmington:

Nancy made it back with pizza and we made an early night of it.  On April 5th we left early planning to get to Mile Hammock Bay anchorage near Peru, NC.  It had 33 reviews on the Waterway Guide, and all said about the same thing--"plenty of room," "one of our favorite anchorages", "extremely popular", "nice and easy access", "great stop" etc. So, we set off at 8am, headed back down the Cape Fear River and said goodbye to Wilmington. It was a fine day for traveling and we reluctantly passed up Carolina Beach State Park, where, with a senior discount, you can dock your boat for only $26/night.  After a full day of some especially heavy traffic (multiple barges doing dredging work), we pulled into the anchorage at 4pm.  The wind was blowing pretty hard with no real protection and there were already 5-6 boats there.  Our anchor dragged on our first attempt and then more boats came in.  Frankly, the place was disappointing given the reviews--it was quite exposed and although we could have tried again, we had no appetite for it.

Dredging:

 

We called the Murphy's and found out they were in the town of Swansboro, another twenty miles to the north. Since we still had over two hours of daylight until the 7:35pm sunset, we decided to put the pedal to the metal and go for it. The ICW here is a canal that passes through Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps Base Camp comprising 246-square miles. There were several warnings not to anchor because of non-exploded ordinance, as well as the possibilities of ICW closures due to live ammunition training exercises! Fortunately, there was none of this going on today although we did see military training vehicles that had been totally shot up! 

At this point, we heard a boat calling “Mayday” on Channel 16. It turned out to be a sailboat attempting to enter a nearby inlet--sounds like they touched bottom and freaked out and wanted the Coast Guard to come and help "guide" them into the inlet safely. The captain had a French accent, so perhaps they can be forgiven for not knowing that the US Coast Guard doesn't guide in boats and that “Mayday” is only used for life threatening situations.  (Another boat came to their rescue.)

It was fun going full throttle and we arrived at the Church Street Dock in Swansboro well before sundown.  It was nice to see the Murphy's again.

 

Dave

Odometer: 3,325 n/m