Go BackTER BARB HEADING SOUTH 2
The travels of the Ter-Barb 2007
Posted Nov. 18, 2007
TerBarb South – Part 2
Nov. 10, 2007 We are trying to decide if it would be a good idea to leave Oriental, NC. NOAA is saying winds out of the north at 10-15 mph. In your dreams!!! More like 20-25 out of the northwest, with gusts ranging about 30 mph. We only need to cross a 3 mile stretch of the Neuse River before entering Adams Creek, where we should be protected. We decide to go for it. We have a following sea while we cross the Neuse and the wind is pushing us even as we enter Adams Creek. It is not a bad ride to Morehead City, except for about 5 minutes at the mouth of Adams Creek and another 5 minute ride as we turn south to enter the channel to Morehead City docks. We are tied along a long dock and we do not need lines to keep us on the dock, as the wind is pushing us sideways. It is sunny and chilly, with temperatures in the 60 degree range. Sunday, Nov. 11 starts out the same way that yesterday ended – windy. We stay at Morehead City and borrow the marina car and drive to Wal*Mart and explore the town. Later we walk around town and down on the water front. We are on the back side of town – there is the ocean, then the barrier island, then the ICW, then the back channel where we are docked. There are quite a few of us, again waiting for a break in the weather. One of our main concerns before we left was wind – not so much the chilly temperature. Boy, have we had the wind!!!
On Monday, everything calmed down to 5-10 mph so off we went along with about 6 other boats. We are heading for Surf City, NC. One of my favorite stops. We travel through Bogus Sound, which is calm. As we pass Dudley’s Marina in Swansboro, we have dolphins swimming with us as we are passing an inlet to the ocean. Luckily, the Marines are not firing at Camp LeJeune, but with only have 3 foot of water under us as we cross New River inlet and we are in the deepest part of the channel. We stop at New River Marina for fuel as it is only $2.96/gallon. Fuel is now running $3.39 or $3.49 a gallon. The Surf City marina is very protected, the food store is 1 block away and there are several other stores and gift shops to walk around, but the best part is that the ocean beach is ˝ block past the food store. We walked on the beach, as it is warm (70 degrees) and sunny. The sky is a pretty blue and the waves are crashing onto the beach. There are several people sitting in beach chairs enjoying the afternoon. We stayed Tuesday and put our bikes down to ride around town and to explore the park which is along side the ICW. We watched municipal workers putting up the Christmas tree and decorating an area which we think Santa will be sitting. This weekend they will be lighting the Christmas tree and having a festival in the park. Today is another beautiful day, although it is again windy.
We called Dock Holiday’s Marina to make arrangement to stay over for Thanksgiving which we come home. However, they tell us that they have no slips available. Go to Plan B. When we stopped here on our last trip we had made friends with several people (Jim and Skip & Sharon). We called them to see if they knew of anything available, as the slips are privately owned. Luck was with us and because of these friends we now have a slip to stay at over the holidays.
On Wednesday, Nov. 14, we leave Surf City heading south. The sun is shining, temperature at 75-79 degrees and winds southwest at 10-15 mps. We clear the dock, allowing us just enough time to make the 8 am opening of the Surf City Swing Bridge (14 feet clearance). They are working on the Figure Eight Bridge which is 17 miles south, but the clearance is 20 feet and we can make it under. However when we get there they have scaffolding hanging down about 18 inches, which will make it real close for us. It is 10 am and they are not opening until 11 am., so we decide to give it a try. We clear the bridge with about 12 inches to spare. We also are able to make it under the Wrightsville Bridge, which has 20 feet of clearance. Most of the ride is in a narrow channel until we enter Myrtle Grove Sound which connects to the main channel going to Wilmington, NC. This section is a little choppy until we pass Cape Fear Inlet and Southport. We continued past Southport Marina as the wind is supposed to kick up again tomorrow and this is not a well protected marina as the opening is rather large. We continue 6 more miles to St. James Plantation Marina. What a nice place!! We have a well protected slip and the people are real nice. On Thursday, NOAA was right and the wind kicked up again to 25 mph, gusting higher. It is a good place to stay. We were able to finally clean off some of the salt as the winds are not too bad inside the marina basin.
Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 we leave St. James Plantation and are heading to Dock Holidays Marina in North Myrtle Beach. Last night the temperature dropped into the 20 degree range and the docks and Ter-Barb have a thin sheen of ice on everything. It was fun trying to walk on the docks and boat without sliding. It was like being on ice skates. We were taking little tiny baby steps and holding on tight as we cleared the docks. Again, the wind is howling at 25 mph out of the northwest. Most of today’s trip will be in an enclosed channel (this section of the ICW is not real wide) so the wind should not play too much of a factor, except crossing the inlets. We cross Lockwoods Folly Inlet and there are temporary markers, as the channel is constantly shifting. The next inlet is Shallotte and the final one on today’s trip is Little River Inlet. As we cross each inlet the wind is pushing you towards the ocean and the current is running in (away from the ocean) which make for an interesting ride across each inlet. However, we need the current running in so we have enough water to cross each inlet and we planned these crossing to coincide with an upcoming tide. We need to have the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge opened. This bridge floats on a barge and they swing it sideways to let boat traffic through. However, it only opens on the hour and because we have a strong running current we arrive ahead of schedule even though we slow down to 1200 rpms (6 mps) and are only running with one engine. Just prior to Dock Holiday’s Marina is Little River Swing Bridge (we need to have this one opened), but as we approach another boat in front of us has called and is proceeding through. We called the bridge tender and asked if it was possible to hold the bridge for us as we were about 4 minutes out. Thank you Mr. Bridge Tender as we continued on our way. We are safely tied up are Dock Holidays for our two weeks stay.
Summary: The wind is still kicking up, but at least it has been warm (except for two nights of frost). We have been able to keep stocked to food and drinks, because of the many food stores only the way. (By the way, adult beverages are sold in the food stores so when you pick up your groceries you can re-stock.) We are well and happy. From now on all of the white knuckle rides should be just about over (Potomac River, Albemarle Sound, and Neuse River) and we will only have short choppy rides on some of the inlets. Tiger is doing well; however, he prefers to ride down below instead of riding on the bridge. Well, whatever makes him happy is OK with us as he provides a lot of entertainment for us. (Doesn’t take much to make us happy!! Although less wind would be nice.) Will try to send this as soon as I can get WIFI access.