Back on the Road (I mean Waterway)
14 November 2006 | Calibash Creek
Jim Lea
WW II battleship North Carolina in Wilmington
We arrived back from Belize on Sunday night after an uneventful flight. On Monday (Nov 13th) we set off from the marina in Wilmington where we had left the boat. The departure was a bit exciting, as a strong ebb (out) current was flowing. We were tied up to an outside berth in the marina which was good, but it was about 100' from a bridge that we had to get to open for our departure. Our bow was pointed downstream, and this meant that we had to leave in reverse as there was not room, with the strong outgoing current to cast off and round up. We would have been into the bridge before we had time to get the boat headed upstream. So I used a trick I had read about to aim the stern out into the current using a spring line, and as we cast off the lines, it was "Full speed astern"! But it worked out, and we even had time, while waiting for the bridge to open, to chat with a boat from Lunenburg, NS who had arrived during our time in Belize. Having cast off in a strong ebb current, we made good time down the river's 18 miles to the mouth. On the way down we discussed our destination... Do we just go to the mouth of the river (Bald Head Island marina) and go offshore the next day, or do we head directly into the ICW and carry on motoring down? After an hour of dithering, and listening to the weather forecast, which predicted S-W at 10 knots for Tuesday (our offshore course would be west, or close hauled), we decided on Bald Head Island (no, you don't have to be bald to live or visit here!!). A quick call confirmed space in the marina, so as the last of the (strong) outgoing tide pushed out the Cape Fear River, we pulled into the Bald Head Island Marina. After tying uop, we headed out looking for the marina office. In the first door we tried, we were met by someone who thrust a small insulated cooler bag at us, containing a bottle of Champagne and two glasses, together with a welcome to Bald Head Island and directions to the marina office. After signing up, we rented a golf cart (the only transport is golf cart, bicycle or foot), and took a tour of the island. We saw a very nice balance between development and conservation. We also saw a well supplied grocery store where we re-stocked our galley, piling groceries high. In the evening, as we were preparing for dinner, we met a couple who were fishing for trout in the marina. They assured us they would catch dinner for us. Although I was a doubter, they handed us over a nice 2 pound trout after a few minutes that made a delicious dinner. And they continued to fish, throwing back about a dozen before being driven away by darkness. The success in fishing reminded me that I had planned to buy some fishing gear, so in the morning, I went up to the marina office (and fishing supply store) and bought a spinning rod for light fishing. I will also buy a heavier rod for deep water fishing as we go further south, bit for now, I can at least toss a line over. With the weather sounding good for the day (but very bad for Thursday) we headed out the Cape Fear River and down the coast to Little River Inlet. Although it was just a short (30 nm) run, the nice breeze allowed us to sail on a close reach down the coast, something we haven't done for a while. It was a very pleasant afternoon. Approaching Little River Inlet, we pulled out our special chartbook that deals only with inlets. Because the channels change frequently, the buoys are not shown on the normal charts. But the last soundings done for the chartbook were done in 2001, so we were uncertain about the extent of the changes that could have occurred. Our chartbook showed a large shallow bank just outside the opening, but we watched a sailboat come out the entrance and sail gaily over the bank... Local knowledge! We slowly worked our way in, finding a few new buoys, but no real problems as we crossed the ICW to our anchorage at Calabash Creek. Tomorrow we will motor down past Myrtle Beach and into the Waccamaw River, which is reported to be beautiful. It may also be our anchorage for a few days while a storm blows through.