Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day to everyone that is a mom or has one.
Leaving Shallotte's Inlet (8:30am) there was only one scary spot as we hit 5.5 then 5.1 feet and hit reverse real fast, backed up and changed course until we hit 7, then 7.2, 8 ft. I'd actually forgotten that it was Mother's Day until leaving the anchorage and traveling a bit down the ICW. I'd noticed it was really quiet out and that's when it struck me that everyone was at their mother's or taking mom to breakfast so there were no fishermen, or power boaters out playing or fishing this morning.

Lonnie had sent me a beautiful video clip for Mother's Day of his little angels. I saved it for today; it was really wonderful, made me cry. Thank you for sending it Lonnie - I hope you enjoy those little girls - they WILL grow up so fast. I wish I had thought to appreciate you guys and hug you a little more than I did when you were growing up (even when you reached the age where that wasn't cool any more LOL). Big hugggg to you now! Steph I loved the pic/card thank you - bigggggg hug! Miss you too and am looking forward to seeing you. Don't know if you're reading this but hang in there.

We went past an older couple with a little blonde tike along the waterway this morning. It was a moment that I wish I'd have had my camera up top with me, unfortunately I was at the helm and it was below but I have a mental picture of it that is very special. A Norman Rockwell Painting in my mind if you will...

The woman was in a red, plastic kayak with the little one in front of her, life vest on, hat on, and big sunglasses half the size of his/her face on... The man was standing/squatting on the corner of a seawall with a cooler behind him and he was taking pictures of the woman and toddler in the kayak. The woman was paddling out of some weeds and toward the seawall where the man stood, then gave the paddle to the little one sitting in front of her. He/she was paddling for all his/her might, first one side then the other (definitely had the moves). The woman was ready to take over if assistance was needed, while letting the toddler take charge paddling the boat towards dad/grandpa. It was sweet to watch and reminded me of Zachery and Greg in the dinghy (was it last summer?) at the lake when Zack took the throttle and dad was "at ready". That seems so long ago, and yet but yesterday. Anyhow it was a great mental snapshot on a cool Mother's day morning - another unexpected gift for my soul.

We also passed a house with a giant giraffe statue on it's lawn... Interesting lawn ornament...

Once we got to the Cape Fear Inlet, I spotted 7 dolphins working in unison to catch their lunch (it was about noon). They were circling their prey and then scooping them up. Fascinating to watch these beautiful, intelligent creatures hunting their meal.

The waterway began getting crowded again after lunchtime and there was a lot of congestion around the Carolina Beach inlet. A Wildlife officer/Boat didn't help by stopping all the fishing boats in the middle of the channel either. Trying to get around them and the fishing boats and staying in the channel was a feat. Couple that with the inrushing water and sediment from the Atlantic through the inlet and boat wakes pushing us, and needless to say we ran aground between buoys 155 and 155A where it was shallow to begin with. Luckily it was sand. We reversed the boat with no luck. The Wildlife officers passed us and waved. We kept the boat in reverse and didn't have long to wait before another large powerboat waked us again and we were able to get off the sandbar. This time I waved back at the officers.

When we finally got to Green 25/Red 24 that marked the entrance to Wrightsville Beach (our anchorage for the evening) we thought we were home free but in turning into Motts Channel we cut it a little to close to the Red buoy and were aground in the channel . A Sea Tow boat came by and asked if we were members. No, we're not. Are you Tow Boat Members? Yes. Okay. Are we on the right side of the Red Buoy (to the right of it)? Yep - I've got 14 feet here between the red and green - you just cut it to close. Want help? Nope, the tide is coming up, we should be able to get off. Okay. He took his dog over to the side of the channel and let him off. Then we watched him play with the dog while we waited for the tide to help lift us off. He'd throw a stick into the water and the dog would bring it back - quite a frisky pup. When we got free, I yelled over that he'd make a great bird dog. He yelled back that the pup was 8 months old and his pop was a very good bird dog. I didn't find that surprising in the least. This pup will fetch many ducks in the future.

We finally dropped anchor at 5:30pm in the anchorage. There were quite a few boats here but we managed to find a good spot out of the traffic path of the powerboats zipping under the fixed bridge.

A drink while waiting to see if the anchor would settle nicely, then salad, flat iron steak and rolls for dinner. I shared some of my stale cinnamon, raisin, and beer bread with the ducks at the anchorage - they didn't mind that it was stale in the least.

Love you mom and wish I could have been there to help Steph, Penelope, Joyce and James plant the little memorial tree for you today.