May 28, 2014
Boy, what a night.
Thunderstorms were all around us on the radar. They finally reached us a little
after midnight. There was a lot of heavy rain coming. Thankfully, the
temperature dropped before the rain arrived otherwise it would have been
miserable inside the boat.
I awoke when the rain
started and closed everything up tight. Then I did my usual check for leaks.
Satisfied we were ok for the moment; I lay back down and tried to sleep but it
was a while in coming. Then about 0230 hrs, a second thunderstorm and rain hit
us. This one was more violent and the rains were heavier. More lost sleep!
At 0500 I was awakened by
thunder again. This cell seemed to be moving off shore. I’m awake now so it’s
make the coffee and get ready to be underway. We need to leave Southport by
0700 so we can ride the tide/current up the Cape Fear River, through Snow’s Cut
and over to Carolina Beach.
We don’t plan to travel
far as more violent weather is expected anytime from midday to mid-afternoon.
There is a fishing tournament going on up at Wrightsville Beach and the marinas
are full so we will probably anchor near there. Actually, there aren’t many
anchorages between Southport and Morehead City, a distance of over a hundred
miles.
We get underway and are
really moving at 8+ mph or more running up the river. We reach Carolina Beach
and continue on towards Wrightsville following two other sailboats. I call just
to see if any slips are available and what do you know, Dockside Marina’s fuel
dock is shut down and they say we can tie up there for the night.
We arrive about 1030 hrs
and tie up to the fuel dock. Their pumps are bagged over and a sign says “No Fuel”.
Couldn’t get a straight answer about the fuel, but the situation is good for
us.
A little after noon, we
decided to have lunch at the Dockside Restaurant. We split some BBQ, have a
couple of brews and Donna discovers they have Banana Pudding, so we split a
desert too. Naturally, after all that, it’s time for a short nap back on the
boat.
We spend the rest of the
afternoon reading, washing the boat and planning tomorrow’s travels. Oh, BTW,
those violent midday storms never materialized. The evening storms look very
promising though.
Start: 0710
Stop: 1030
Distance Traveled: 27 miles
Avg Speed: 7.1 mph
Max Speed: 10.3 mph
Location: Dockside Marina, Wrightsville Beach, NC, MM 283
