We left our anchorage at Camp Lejeune on Tuesday morning and quickly spotted bottlenose dolphins swimming with us. We had first seen a few in the congested Morehead City area, but these were much closer to the boat. My camera was giving me fits that morning, so David suggested I put the camera down and just enjoy the dolphins. Brilliant idea. Wow! A mother and a youngster swam beside us for quite a while. I peered right over the side of the boat and into their eyes when they surfaced each time. Too, too cool! Definitely the high point of the day. So......dolphins = The Good.
We were motoring through the ICW on our way to Wrightsville Beach in a light fog and drizzle that morning. The drizzle subsided; the fog increased to the point were we could not see the next navigation aids in front of us (estimating less than a quarter mile visibility). Thankfully there was very little traffic and the forecast kept calling for the fog to lift in the late morning. For a while, I was leaning out of the cockpit with binoculars trying to see through the fog to the next marker. The water and fog merged into one pale gray palette and it was impossible to see the markers until we were practically two boat lengths away. Along this part of the ICW, if you stray off the channel, it gets dangerously shallow, so we needed to be sure we were in the channel in plenty of water. David kept one eye on the depth gauge and the other on the chart plotter. Fog + Shallows = The Bad.
We arrived at the Wrightsville Beach Bridge just before the 2pm opening (and the fog had lifted). A (motor?) sailboat, Anna Rose, was making small circles ahead of us killing time until the bridge lifted. When the bridge swung into motion, Anna Rose did not quickly accelerate through the bridge. She putted along and zigzagged slowly after passing through. She did not respond to radio calls. She was oblivious of the world around her. So, we settled in at a slow pace, kept a safe distance, found the turn to the channel that would take us to Seapath Marina, yielded to an oncoming powerboat who was also heading into the channel, turned at Green 25--keeping close to Green 25 as instructed by the dockhand at the marina--and promptly ran aground in soft, soft sand. Reverse did nothing to ease us off, so David killed the engine and called for a tow. Thankfully, we had been advised to purchase tow insurance back in Annapolis. In 20 minutes, a nice guy in a red boat with big engines came to our rescue and gently eased us back into the ICW from which we had just turned. He then led us straight to the marina (we skimmed the bottom once more!). Running aground = The Ugly.
The northern part of the ICW is not subject to tides. We had recently gotten into the tide-affected region and had not quite tuned in closely enough........we arrived at Wrightsville Beach at exactly the LOWEST tide of the entire month of December. We thought Virginia Dare drew 6' (underwater depth of your boat). We have since learned that she draws 6'1" while EMPTY. With us and all of our gear on board, she probably sits around 6'6" -- an awful lot of keel in shallow water. Lesson learned.
Not many photos from the day, but here you go:
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| This was the light fog. It got much worse. |
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| Lawn art just north of the Wrightsville Beach Bridge (if I recall correctly) |
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| More art, because everyone needs a giraffe in their yard! |
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| The dreaded Green 25 (you better believe we tiptoed past it this morning [Dec 28] at high tide!) |
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| I forgot to mention that we endured a day and a half of strong (30 knot!) winds and pounding rains at this marina WHILE we were knocked out with bad colds! We basically slept for two straight days (Dec. 24 & 25). A tornado touched down not far from here. |
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