Days 292 through 298:

We leave North Myrtle Beach and power through the Rockpile, the narrow section of the ICW with banks of submerged rocks on either side. We didn't like this much on the way down and don't like it much more now. We power across the Carolina Beach Inlet, Lockwoods Folly Inlet and the Shallotte Inlet. With the reduction of dredging funds, shoaling has become a serious issue in some sections of this stretch of the Waterway. You've got to be constantly vigilant (not that we aren't always)..one goof and you're aground.

We pull into Southport, NC on the Cape Fear River at the end of this day and explore this quaint, pretty little town. Southport has apparently been "discovered" by retirees, and the real estate prices have taken off. We walk the town and find a barber shop. S is really needing a haircut. He is starting to look like a hillbilly. But, hey, we are gypsies after all!

On to Topsail Beach the next day. The Beach here, Topsail Island, Topsail Creek and Inlet comprise the area south of Bogue Inlet, and it is riddled with small tricky inlets between barrier islands. History says that ships approaching the inlets looked over the barrier islands for the topsails of hidden pirate ships. If pirates' topsails were spotted, the ships moved along the coast to a safer inlet. Topsails clearly served as early warning systems in the days of sailing ships.

Then on up to Camp LeJeune, where we are just a bit too late for the opening of the Onslow Beach Bridge. Some nice marine manning the bridge sees us coming and holds the bridge open for some 10 extra minutes to let us get through. Steve gets on the radio and gives a thanks for the hold and a "Semper Fi". Up come the bridgetender's binnoculars to check out Katannah's skipper.

Across the New River Inlet and past Swansboro on a grey day in rough Bogue Sound past Morehead City, across the Beaufort Inlet, and on into our spot in Town Creek, Beaufort, NC. We wind up spend two days in Beaufort as it is blowing like the devil.

By Monday, June 4th, we are heading up and across the Neuse River into Oriental, where we stay in the Oriental Marina in the heart of the village. It is now pretty hot again, so a swim in the marina pool is welcome. Walk around the village, pick up some marine supplies in the local chandlery and hang out at the Marina Tiki Bar for some free hor d'oeuvres. Back to the boat for a movie and turn in early. Does this sound like a pattern? It very much is.

Next we cross Pamlico Sound and head on up to the familiar Dowry Creek Marina in Belhaven. Again in the pool to cool off, and I take the marina loaner car into town for some supplies. We are off the next morning and up through the dark brown water in the wild cypress swamp that is the Alligator/Pungo Canal and up the Alligator River to the lovely (?) Alligator River Marina. Mistletoe (which we are thankful to see boxed in the Northeast at Christmas) and Spanish Moss decorate the Cypress and toweing Tupelo trees. This place is nothing but a long dock with slips, shower facilities and a truckstop diner serving hearty flapjacks and grits breakfasts to truckers crossing over the bridge here to and from the Outer Banks. It is a convenient place for us to stop, however, and we are grateful for it.

On across Albermarle Sound and up the Pasquatonk River to Elizabeth City, which boasts its claim of being the friendliest city on the ICW to transient boats. We grab a free slip at the municipal dock and walk around the city's six neighborhoods on the National Historic Register. The cruising guide describes this place as a spot which "stirs memories of a time when Blackbeard sailed the waters, trains were still a way of life and Wilbur and Orville Wright stopped for provisions on their way to Kitty Hawk".

And then there are the "Rose Buddies". At the end of the day, a golf cart pulls up driven by an elderly gentleman who proceeds to give a rose to each woman on every cruising boat at the dock. This man is so very sweet. He heads down to this dock each and every night for this ritual which was started by him and a buddy after their wives passed away. We are told that the Rose Buddies occasionally host a wine and cheese party for visiting boats at the dock. This place really is hospitable! We head out to the Carolina Dinner Theatre this night to have dinner while watching a movie, which is a nice treat.

All in all, Steve is not impressed with the coast of North Carolina along the ICW. He thinks that it does not have the "softness" of South Carolina, and I wholeheartedly agree. The Outer Banks are probably stunning and the little towns like Edenton way up the rivers which we do not get to see are beautiful. And the inland mountainous areas like Asheville are said to be stunning. We'll see them by car.

Sorry that this is not so complete (or maybe even inaccurate) an accounting of the North Carolina Coast. S is so preoccupied with moving the boat that he has fallen behind on his log, and I am so preoccupied trying to get this blog back up....well that's another story. This coupled with the fact that after x-number of days consecutively in "The Ditch", it all starts to run together and you forget where you have been and what you have done. Either that or we are just plain getting old or sunstroked. Maybe a little bit of everything. If I did not have our daily travels marked in my calendar, we'd be out of luck trying to decipher it all in retrospect.