We departed Southport Marina bright and early on a calm, quiet morning and had current in our favor as we headed into the Cape Fear River. We loved our time in Southport, but it felt good to cast off the lines once more. We passed a HUGE container ship on the way, but that was the only commercial traffic we saw. We were somehow lucky enough to catch both bridges (the Wrightsville Beach Bridge only opens on the hour, and the Figure Eight Island Bridge opens on the hour and half hour, and both have strong current), only having to wait a few minutes for each. It’s a good thing, because there’s some challenging current and not a ton of space before the Wrightsville bridge. Unfortunately the favorable current did NOT stick with us and we found ourselves struggling against foul current most of the rest of the day – if that’s the price we had to pay for our good fortune with the bridges, so be it.
Right after we passed through the Figure Eight Island Bridge, we got caught by an intense downpour and had near white-out conditions. We heard thunder, but it was in the part of the system that had already passed. The rain was off and on for the next few hours, but it finally cleared later in the day and turned warm and beautiful.
We were the last boat into Mile Hammock for the night, but there was plenty of room. We had the cheeses I picked up in Southport for dinner while someone on another boat played sax (they were good!). We had a peaceful sunset and could hear the roar of the ocean waves crashing on the beach nearby and the sound of the sea buoy. At sunset, our boat neighbor played “Taps”.
I’m excited to be back out exploring new parts of the ICW – this was the last section between Norfolk and Fort Pierce that we hadn’t traveled yet. I’m also excited to be back out on anchor for a bit. Being in a marina is awesome, and it’s nice to have easy access to everything and meet people, but it’s also so peaceful to spend time out by ourselves.
