Reunion Voyage: Wrightsville Beach to Swan Point Marina

Cramped quarters waiting for the bridge to open

This was a bridge day – several very different bridges, all with different schedules to keep us on our toes. The earliest was a bridge with only 15 feet of overhead clearance so we had to wait for that bridge to open as well as others further up the ICW. This can play havoc with your timing, as you cruise along, and then STOP and hover for 20 or 30 or 40 minutes until the next bridge opening. I hate to hover – Dennis has to be at the helm when we wait for an opening, because trying to hold the boat in line with several other boats in a narrow channel makes me crazy.

We also encountered a couple of problem spots where the ICW was subject to shoaling and so we used what information we had picked up at the recent briefing to navigate through these narrow spots safely. It also helped that boats ahead of us were calling back on the radio to tell others where the deepest passage was. In one case we crept slowly through a very narrow channel where the water was 6 or 7 feet deep. But coming towards us from the north, another boat (traveling way too fast for the area) just plowed forward past us and as we turned around to watch, he came to an abrupt stop. Stuck in the sand right in the middle of the waterway. His options were to call a tow-boat OR wait for a high tide to lift him off. His problems probably include a bent prop, or perhaps a bent prop shaft. There but for the advice of other boats – could have been us.

Tonight we are Snead’s Ferry, NC at a marina called Swans Point. It is owned and run by a mother/daughter team and they are great folks. The place is small – room for 4 or 5 transient boats, and its a little “rustic”, but they get points for hospitality and helpfulness. A nearby restaurant, The Riverview Cafe, sent a car to pick us up and take us there for dinner. It was a 4^th generation family run business as well. Good seafood and very pleasant service both from the waitress and the two family members that provided transportation.