North Carolina

From Charleston we went back into the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and headed north out of South Carolina and in to North. The ICW feels like being back in the rivers.  Sure, it is pretty, but not very exciting.  But unlike the rivers the ICW is full of powerboats who love to speed by and wake our boat sometimes to the point of having water come in through our forward hatches.  Jerks.

One highlight was our stop in Wrightsville Beach which is just another Atlantic beach town but is near the home of a good friend of mine from my Buccaneer racing days.  It is so lovely to visit someone in a real house and sit around a real dining table!  We also lucked out because she was on her way out of town for a few days so we got to raid her fridge of most of her fresh fruits and vegetables.

Our Wilmington Hostess

Reg was spoiled for choice!

There is a large military presence in this area so we anchored in some interesting spots on this stretch.  One popular anchorage between Wrightsville Beach and Beaufort, NC is a basin off the ICW surrounding by a training ground owned by the Marine Corp and used by military and security agencies from all over the world.  It was no surprise, then, to be woken in the middle of the night by bright lights shining in our windows as someone was practicing some sort of clandestine night time water operation.  I’m glad I was warned about this in the cruising guides or I would have been terrified!  We also anchored near a bay where the air force practices bombing.  The bay has floating targets and they drop God knows what on them.  We didn’t see anything dropping but we were buzzed by quite a few aircraft (which usually has me running for a news website to double check the US hasn’t gone to war with someone).

An escort while we find a good spot to drop the hook

For anyone reading this who is planning on being in the area – the free town docks in Oriental, NC are worth a stop.  When you come into the harbor there are two docks clearly marked right ahead of you but there are also two on your starboard side at the end of the marina where the pumpout dock is which are easy to miss if you don’t know they are there. Oriental is a cute little town with an excellent coffee shop right on the water and the best chandlery we have come across on our trip – Inland Waterway Provision Company.  The store has a great selection of all the usual gizmos you would expect (although surprisingly very few shackles) but also has a consignment section with lots of goodies.  They have a spot with chairs where they welcome cruisers to hang out and use their wifi.  As an added bonus they sell local beer and produce – what more could you want?

I loved these trees with their exposed root systems