Myrtle Beach, SC to Swan Point Marina, Sneads Ferry, NC, mm 247

July 6, 2016

The morning was calm with very little wind, so getting out of the slip and the yacht basin this morning seemed like no trick at all now that we were familiar with the layout.  In fact, once we passed the last dock, waving to another early riser who was out on his deck, we reached the mouth of the basin so quickly that I almost mistook it for part of the entry/exit channel.  It’s funny how it had seemed so much longer the previous afternoon.

We only had to cruise about 5 miles, and then we crossed into NC waters!   The stretch of the AICW that we traveled today seemed to have more business and industry than we had seen previously.  We noticed more shrimp boats both docked and out plying their trade, as well as a few derelict ones.  Rob’s response to the first one that we saw stranded on the bank was, “Looks like Forest Gump has been driving his boat around here!”

Beached shrimp boat

Shrimp boats docked along the AICW

The land bordering the AICW seemed to be less marshy for the most part, so we also saw homes on the waterway more frequently.

Homes along the ICW in North Carolina

The rooftop patio certainly had an ocean view

The Cape Fear River is home to the seaport of Wilmington, NC, and to the US Army’s Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, which is the largest military terminal in the world.

US Army Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point

We met the large container ship, Hanjin Baltimore, at the southern junction of the AICW and the Cape Fear River.  At 984 ft long and 140 ft wide – 20 times longer than Lorelei IV and 9 times wider -- it was the largest ship to dock at the Port of Wilmington, and had just arrived there yesterday to be loaded.  I guess that‘s why it had a tugboat attached to its stern to help with steerage while the Hanjin Duesseldorf, which we met a little later, did not, since it is half of Baltimore’s tonnage.

The Hanjin Baltimore looms large even at a distance

Wow!  That's a lot of cargo!

Towboat ready to help with steering when needed

This is a close-up of the "small" opening you can see on the picture above.

The AICW turns off of the Cape Fear River near the northern end of the Military Ocean Terminal restricted zone.  From here until the Neuse River, it runs between the mainland and the barrier islands that are characteristic of the NC coast.

Car Ferry on the AICW

Vacationers enjoying one of the many sand bars

AICW near Wilmington, NC

Geodesic dome home

Along our route, there were 3 bridges of concern:  the Wrightsville Bascule bridge, the Figure 8 Island Swing bridge, and the Surf City Swing bridge.  The Wrightsville Bascule bridge has a reported clearance of 20 ft in Waterway Guide, so we figured we would have to have it opened unless we reached it at low tide and there was additional clearance at the center.  We were approaching the bridge just after 1 pm, so if we couldn’t fit under it, we would have to wait until the next opportunity for an opening at 2 pm.  There was no water height indicator at the southern approach, so Rob called and talked to the bridge tender, who thought the clearance was 18-19 ft with an additional 2-3 ft at center.  We think our mast light is about 20.5 ft – it’s hard to get an exact measurement since the amount of fuel, water, and other supplies can change a boat’s height from the waterline -- so we decided to approach the bridge slowly, ready to reverse the engines if it looked like our mast light was too high or if one of the many small boats around us started to crowd us.  It was pretty nerve-wracking, but Rob said we had at least 6 in of clearance  -- that’s almost needing a shoehorn for boating bridge clearances!

Fortunately, even though the Figure 8 Island Swing bridge has the same reported clearance of 20 ft in Waterway Guide, reports by other boaters say that the bridge is actually several feet higher than the Wrightsville bridge.  The bridge looked higher to us as we approached it, but we still went slowly until we were sure that we would clear it.

Figure 8 Island Swing bridge to our stern. There is also a young talented wakeboarder in the air behind the boat with blue trim.

Only one more bridge to go, and with a clearance of 11-12 ft, we knew we would have to request an opening.  After clearing the Figure 8 Island bridge, our Garmin chartplotter estimated that we would arrive at the Surf City Swing bridge somewhere between 3:45 and 4 pm, so we were hoping that we wouldn’t run into too many “No Wake” zones or unfavorable currents.  Another powerboat had passed us some miles back, so we were concerned that if it hadn’t already gotten through the bridge at the 3 pm opening, the bridge tender might open the bridge early if he or she thought it was the only boat waiting.  We called the bridge tender, and he assured us that he would open the bridge only at 4 pm – and that we should do our best to be there in time.  Some times bridge tenders will hold an opening for a few minutes if they know another boat is close, but this guy apparently worked by the book.  Fortunately, we arrived at around 3:45 pm, so we were able to relax and enjoy the scenery while we waited for 4 pm.

Waiting for the 4 pm opening at the Surf City Swing bridge

Not to wish bad fortune on people, but lucky for us this pirate ship was tied up boarding this tour boat!

Since I grew up in Jacksonville, NC, the names of places along the AICW were becoming more and more familiar the further north we traveled.  Wrightsville, Onslow, Topsail, and Bogue, were all names of places that my family had either visited ourselves or had heard friends talk about.  We planned to stop for the night in Sneads Ferry, NC, a town that my mom, sisters, and I had visited many times, since it was one of our favorite fishing, crabbing, and clamming spots.

Homes along the AICW

Popular beach locations attract condominium complexes

Small fishing village on the mainland

We stayed at Swan Point Marina at mm 247.  Evelyn, the manager, was initially going to put us at the long floating dock.  She didn’t think there was room for us to turn around for our preferred port side tie and I wasn’t crazy about the idea of backing in, so she graciously accommodated us on the fixed face dock on the AICW instead.  Since the current was behind us as we approached the marina, she recommended that we turn around once we had passed the dock so that we could dock while going against the current.  Rob quickly switched the fenders to the starboard side and then we were docked in no time with the help of Evelyn and a couple of dockhands.

The red and white water tower of Camp Lejeune was visible from our dock

Lorelei IV at Swan Point Marina

The fixed face dock is nothing fancy, but since we’re not fancy people and the dock height meant that we could pretty much step straight off of our deck onto it, it worked out quite well for us.  If you like the convenience of floating docks and being closer to the marina facilities, I would recommend staying inside the breakwall.  Sasha appreciated being able to run free, although I did throw her Frisbee in the water once and had to go get a boat hook to fish it out.  After that I walked around to the other side of the marina basin, where there was a nice wide fenced grassy area.

Swan Point Marina (Sasha's Frisbee sailed off into the water to the right - fortunately the current was swirling around and brought it back to the seawall)

Fishing boat docked in front of us

There was a fishing boat docked in front of us and most of the crew was from one or another of the Caribbean islands.  Although Rob started out to walk with Sasha and me, he ended up stopping and talking with the boat’s owner until we returned.  He and the crew were taking the boat to Florida, working on it and rehabbing it as they went along.  They had been out near Cape Hatteras a day or so ago, and he said that the conditions had been so rough that he had prayed for hours until the boat was finally safe in the ICW!  They would be laying up at the marina for at least another day to work on the boat and recuperate.

The start of our journey for tomorrow