Today was a long travel day covering over 60 miles, which may not seem like much to those who travel the roads but when you're moving a sailboat along the winding ICW at between 4 and 7 knots for 10-11 hours it makes it a good day.

We crossed a major hurdle today transiting a 15 mile stretch of the Cape Fear River against what were forecast to be 20+ knot headwinds. This is a very wide river and this section is exposed to the open sea in a way that made our first trip along it a very unpleasant one where we were bucking heavy seas and winds the entire way.

In anticipation of rough conditions this time we considered waiting for better conditions in the coming days but through our VHF radio we talked with another cruiser up ahead of us who signaled that the winds and seas appeared to be quite tolerable.

Forging ahead we crossed the river in good time with little difficulty, an once on the other side we pressed on past our anchorage spot from a previous trip to a new town, giving us the chance to experience another coastal town and it's unique features.

Wrightsville Beach is another community built along the barrier islands facing the ocean that offer both long and short term residents the chance to experience the edge of the Atlantic Ocean first hand. It has both single family homes with full time residents and apartments for short term visitors along with the shops and restaurants to support the lifestyle. We didn't stay long but docked the dinghy along the wharf and had a beer together and on the way back identified some boaters in the vessels that were anchored near us.

You can often tell cruisers anchored for the night. They're the ones in the windbreakers and sunglasses with the grocery bags or backpacks carrying provisions back to their dinghy. We met a couple from elsewhere in North Carolina on their way home from a trip to the Bahamas and traded some stories and experiences before wishing them well. Then it was back to the boat for a nice dinner and early to bed in anticipation of another long day traveling north.