Woke this morning about 0800 and rolled out of the sack 30 minutes later... did not want to get up this morning but we needed to get rolling... plans to go to Southport and needed to get there early to get the FREE city dock... late arrival would tough to get the dock. While getting the boat ready to depart I heard a familiar voice on the VHF... Jim Healy from SANCTUARY... tried hailing him but he evidently could not hear my transmission. Then I was hailed by Mike Efford from MI-T-MO... he informed me that he and Jim had both spent the night at Bucksport Marina they were only a few miles from Barefoot Landing. Told Mike we would be underway momentarily and we dropped the liens and departed at 0910 hours.

All day I could hear Mike and Jim on the VHF... I had told them earlier that we were going to Southport and we all agreed that we would meet there. I was still ahead of them a few miles. Had the current running with us so we were getting a decent speed boost and arrival time to Southport was approximately 1430 hours... checking the current for the Cape Fear River we would still have a flood tide for an hour to an hour and half if we continued past Southport... and the the next flood current would be Sunday an 1142 hours... too late to leave Southport the next day... so I contacted Mike and Jim and let them know that we were going to continue past Southport and go to Carolina Beach State Park Marina... about another hour north... they agreed and would follow us.

Arrived at Carolina Beach State Park Marina and tried hailing them on the VHF with no response from them... could see several boats in the marina so we entered ad tied up to a long face dock adjacent to the fuel dock. Jim pulled into a slip and Mike pulled in behind us on the face dock… we were all tied up and secure when a ranger came out from the office... well I don’t think he was an actual park ranger but an employee of the marina... he was real unsure about us staying at the dock and said he would have to call and check... so we waited... he returned several minutes later and informed us that we could not stay where we were currently docked and would have to move to the head of B dock since none of the slips were wide enough for our beam... he also informed Mike that he could not stay in the marina period… he was too big… he would have to leave... after some discussion it was determined that they were not going to allow Mike to stay… so we opted to leave the marina with Mike and proceed further north to Carolina Beach and anchor... Jim was headed to Wilmington the next day which is located further up the Cape Fear so he decided to remain in the marina.

Mike got to the anchorage first and anchored and we anchored adjacent to him and then backed down and re rafted together for the evening. At approximately 1715 we were secure for the evening at approximate location N34°03.191’, W077°53.308’. Mike joined us for dinner and we had a great evening with him.

Today we traveled for 7 hours and 20 minutes covering 51.26 nautical miles averaging 6.99 knots. We were at the Carolina Beach State Park Marina for 45 minutes.

Alarm set for 0600 hours and was up and getting ready to depart before it even went off… topped the water tanks off… Susan took Beecha for a walk and we departed at 0730 hours. Destination for the night planned as Southport, NC or further depending how we hit the tides.

Not a mile a way we crossed paths with a sailboat we had spent the evening with in the Haulover Canal… it had been a couple of years… sailing vessel PAGAN CHANT… exchanged some VHF chatter with him as we passed.


We next came to the Socastee Swing Bridge… I had heard on the VHF that they had just opened for a sailboat ahead of us… the bridge is on demand but was not sure how quickly he would open again… as we approached I hailed and as I thought he had us wait since he had just opened and closed… needed to clear the traffic… we sat for about 10 minutes waiting for the opening.




Having spent a late night with the owner of Bucksport Marina and indulging a little to heavily in the tequila… my morning energy boost was coming to an end quickly… was not really felling like a long day of cruising… Susan needed to pick up some provisions so we decided to call it day early and we docked at approximately 1045 hours at Barefoot Landing Marina at approximate location N33°48.092’, W078°44.702’. Had hoped to be in North Carolina today but it didn’t work out that way. Barefoot Landing is always a fun stop and we had not been here in a couple of years so we are looking forward to staying here tonight.

We have also been in contact with another fellow MTOA member Mike Efford aboard MI-T-MO and he is just behind us traveling north… this early stop over will close the gap between us and we will most likely be cruising together tomorrow.

Today we traveled for 3 hours and 15 minutes covering 20.73 nautical miles averaging 6.38 knots.

No alarms set to get up and we did not wake up till 0830 hours… did not have to even look outside… it’s still windy… when will end??? I lowered the dinghy in to the water to take Beech to land. The pier and boat ramp were a little crude… had to climb a ladder to get on to the dock… not sure if we will return to this anchorage again… but it worked great for last night.

Beecha was quick to do her business and we were back to boat and underway at approximately 0930 hours. We were leaving at almost a mid tide so water levels going out were much better… had a strong current on our nose as we exited the S. Santee River but when we turned into the ICW the current was with on the stern. We did not loose the boost the entire day… making 7.0 to 8.4 knots.

Felt really strange passing Georgetown today and not stopping… after spending over a week there on our trip south last year waiting for parts… we zipped right past and up the Waccamaw River. We decided to stop early and get our trip stops back in sync with where we normally stop each day. So we stopped at approximately 1440 hours at Bucksports Marina in Bucksport, SC, ICW MM 377. Our approximate location N33°39.053’, W079°05.684’.

Today we traveled for 5 hours and 10 minutes covering 39.56 nautical miles averaging 7.66 knots.