Hanging a(g)round in Wrightsville Beach
01 November 2009

After a peaceful night in Mile Hammock Bay we were up at sunrise this morning, pulled anchor and set off down the waterway. It turned into a beautiful day and we enjoyed the scenery as we made good progress. There was a lovely pine scent to the air, there were pelicans, blue herons and skimmers flying around and to crown it all - many dolphins accompanying us along the way. We timed the first bridge perfectly and eased through with no fuss. However, an increasing procession of boats gathered and by the second bridge there was a whole mess of us lining up for the opening. Add in a bit of current, a jot of impatience and a lot of anxiety about reaching the next anchorage in time to get a good spot and there is a recipe for a stressful time. By the third bridge it was a zoo! At this point we left the mad crowd and headed back up stream and did not turn back again until it was time for the bridge to open. By now we are at the back of the line for the left hand turn into the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. As we make the turn our fellow boaters are already out of sight and we realise we did not "brief" our approach into the channel. Before we know it the alarm on our new depth sounder is beeping and we are aground!!!! Instinct led us to turn towards the docks where there are many large power boats tied up, sadly the channel lay to the opposite side and as it was low tide we ended up on the shoal, which is uncharted but common knowledge amongst the locals who passed by as we sat waiting for the tide to come in. Before too long we were able to wiggle free and we gingerly made our way to the anchorage. We were dismayed to see that it was jam packed and far too crowded for our liking. There was, however, plenty of room on the other side of the channel. Here we had a lot of difficulty getting the anchor down satisfactorily mainly beause the current and wind were opposing so we were lying at a weird angle to the anchor. To crown off the whole day, Tom got poohed on by a seagull! Somehow it ended up in his shoe! At this point we both burst out laughing and realized that things could only get better from here.
We have had a lovely supper, the wind is picking up and it is drizzling a bit - Oh the joys of cruising. Tomorrow, with any luck, we will be headed out onto the ocean via the Cape Fear River, we are hoping to make it to Charleston by Tuesday morning but may even press on further if things look good and we are not too tired.