Wilmington area with Tommy and Sue.

Spectra
Paul & Norma Russell
Fri 22 May 2015 22:50

Wilmington area with Tommy and Sue.

34:15.37N 79:56.87W

21st May 2015

8383 Miles from Ramsgate by log.

 

I have had to rush this edition out as according to Sue Piers will be worrying about his Mummy, so here goes.           

 

Tommy and Sue have been with us for a few days now and we have had exciting adventures indeed. There was the find our way into Wilmington trek ½ mile by river 4 miles by road trying to avoid walking along the interstate and a short cut through a pretty dodgy neighbourhood. A completely riveting trip to Walmarts enjoyed by all and of course lots of beer aboard Spectra as the sun goes down. To be honest the first few days were dominated by my need to get Spectra’s mini refit underway ready for the crossing. We are now booked in for a lift, clean and anode check on Thursday the 28th, a new 80 amp hour battery charger is on order and I am awaiting prices on my 4 new batteries. The stern gland needs a bit of a repack and so I will do that while we are in the slings, all in all everything is going to schedule and we have no dramas at the moment. Everyone has been so helpful, the marina has agreed to let us use their wholesaler discount card for supplies and offered to give us a lift there and back which should be a real boon, the staff at the local boatyard are extremely helpful and competent which has given me a warm fluffy feeling about the trip preparations. As if that is not enough Dan and Paula from the lovely 1960’s motor boat moored next to us have kindly offered us the use of their Jeep anytime they aren’t using it which is a bit above and beyond the call of duty in my book.

 

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This is a very strange notice we found on our blog site just off the coast.

 

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Downtown Wilmington

 

With all of that set in motion we decided to head back down the Cape Fear River for a couple of days of well earned R&R with Tommy and Sue and visit Southport. The 20 mile trip down the river was a bit extended as we had to punch the tide for the first two hours. The lifting bridge at Wilmington will only open for pleasure craft at 10am and 2pm which leaves you a bit limited on tidal options. But having said that it was a very pleasant trip down the river motoring gently past the USS North Carolina in Wilmington town centre and we even managed to sail for a mile or two when the wind picked up.

 

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The USS North Carolina

 

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What 3.5ft clearance looks like from the deck. Passing under the 65ft bridge at the entrance to Wilmington, yes those are cars above our mast, Tommy and Sue both ducked.

 

We arrived at safe haven harbour, Southport, just before low water and made an attempt to squeeze into a free patrons only berth at the Provision Company shore side  restaurant. As I reversed in all was going exceptionally well until Spectra gently stopped with over half of her length sticking out beyond the finger berth. The rather keen dockside helper from the restaurant gallantly kept pulling on the stern line encouraging me to keep her coming until I told him we are aground. Not to be put off by such a minor set back I pulled out and went back in forwards onto the next dock along, with Spectra’s underwater shape being considerably shallower up front, we managed to get the bows all of the way in and everything tied up without touching the mud again. It actually wasn’t quite that easy as the pontoon was a bit on the rickety side (sinking) and the young lad helping was a bit too keen. The mid ships line was thrown and I pointed to the cleat I wanted it attached to. He fastened the line on and I gently applied throttle to spring us in, going ahead at about 0.01 knots with no effort at all caused a splintering of wood as the cleat ripped clean out of the dock. In a flash the young lad tied it off to another cleat and then rushed forward to take the bow line from Sue. Having got his hands on the bow line he started to haul on it manfully swinging our bows inwards toward the dock alarmingly and making his hastily tied mid ships line slip on the cleat. At this point I had to shout stop and get him to calm it down a bit. We got Tommy ashore and his wise old head soon brought some order to the situation. Ten minutes later we were all snugly tied up with our pulpit rail sitting about three feet away from the nearest table on the open deck of the restaurant while the diners carried on eating with slightly nervous smiles on their faces and a few nervous twitches, in fact if Norma had leant over the rail I am pretty sure she could have stolen a chip, sorry French fry. Later that night at high tide our bowsprit was actually above the roof of the restaurant which was an interesting if slightly unusual view.

 

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Approaching the model village that is Southport.

 

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Who needs GPS when everywhere is sign posted

 

Southport is a real microcosm of an all American town. Lovely little houses lead on to main street which is wide and lined with small family businesses catering to the passing trade. We had a good walk about and then ate out at the restaurant behind the one we had docked at, the Frying Pan. No social boundaries were trespassed upon as both restaurants are owned by the same family, as is half the town by all accounts.

 

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Spectra behind the Provision Company taken from the Frying Pan

 

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And so as not to show favouritism we have a Sundowners in The Provision Company.

 

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Sundown in Safe Haven Southport North Carolina

 

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Spectra on the dock at the end of the day.

 

The next morning we were up and about early for a short trip up the river again to the Federal Point Yacht club at Carolina beach. We had a great welcome at the yacht club and were soon all tied up with the shore power attached and the fridge busily cooling the beer down. The yacht club boasts its own swimming pool for guests and all for $1.25 per foot per night. Added to that the nice lady in the office gave us a discount for being Sea Tow members and only billed us for 45 feet so all in all it was $50 for the night. After a day around the pool listening to a man continuously telling his well behaved children to play quietly at the top of his voice we put our glad rags on (clean pair of shorts) and headed into town for the night. In town we found a bar called, the “Fat Pelican shack”, which strangely enough was, a “shack”. Above the door of the “Fat Pelican Shack” was a sign that said, “Women in low cut dresses will be looked down upon” which titillated Tommy no end. And so we went in, a door at the back of, the “shack”, opened into a refrigerated lorry container, yes it was that posh, which had over four hundred varieties of bottled beer, plus wine and I am sure there was a single can of Coke in there somewhere but I didn’t look too hard. The idea was that you make your selection and then take the bottles to the bar, pay for them and then find a quiet corner of the bar or large outside area to drink them in. Unfortunately a squall had come through that afternoon along with absolutely torrential rain which had soaked the outside area making everything a bit drab and soggy but not to be deterred we found a corner and had a pleasant beer or two in very strange surroundings.

 

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Swimming pool at the marina

 

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So much beer so little time.

 

After a meal ashore and a singing contest as we walked back to Spectra (Say a word and everyone has to sing a line from a song containing that word) we settled in for the night with the wind howling outside and all was well with the world. This morning we woke bright and early to a blustery old kind of day and it turned out to be a very slow start for the crew of Spectra. After many false starts which included Sue cancelling her hair regime until later we finally cast off and headed back. While Norma used the trip back to itemise our medical supplies and finish one of her paintings we three got on with sailing the boat and of course putting the world to rights, so if anyone out there had burning ears today now you know why. For the second day running our GPS lost contact as we went up the river which was a bit of a worry with the big crossing pending. Later that day I asked in Bennett Brothers boat yard if it was common to lose GPS on the river to which Al, the technical manager, said that the huge military logistics base was known to block the signal in the local area which is a new one on me but as it happened in the same place on two separate days you have to suspect foul play don’t you? The GPS has worked faultlessly for weeks by the way.

 

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Federal Point Yacht Club, Carolina beach. A great stop over.

 

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Peanut Island, Daytona beach by Norma.

 

We are now moored back in Cape Fear Marina and I have just put my 4 new 8D batteries on order at $260 each plus tax so all is set for next week. Norma is getting a lift to the wholesalers on Tuesday and we are borrowing Dan’s Jeep tomorrow to grab some supplies at Walmart. I think the cunning plan is to take advantage of having the Jeep and drive over to the USS North Carolina in the afternoon, but as it only has front seats that will be an interesting exercise, (I bet Sue bags a front seat). Monday is Memorial day and so we are going to dress Spectra overall, or all over, I can never remember which one it is, but it will show a bit of solidarity with our American guests and of course it will make Spectra a nice backdrop for the marina BBQ to which we have all been invited on Sunday.

 

PS: Piers, Sue says Mummy loves you.

 

Watch this space for the next exciting episode from the adventures of Spectra………      

 

Wildlife sighted on our Cape Fear river trip

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A bird on a big stick                                                                   A lizardy thing

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A white bird with a very long neck                                            A big bird with no head