The Adventures of Monk's Vineyard - The Great Loop and Beyond: May 13, Day 322

We were up this morning at the crack of dawn – well, actually before dawn. We slipped the lines and were on our way by 6:30. Gerry thought we’d be at the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge well before 9:00, but with the many “no wake” areas we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. Well, as it turned out, we got a great push from the tide coming in the Little River Inlet. We were hauling ass. GPS showed we’d be there by 8:00. We even kicked it up a notch to give ourselves a little leeway. The pontoon bridge opens only on the hour so, if you miss it, you must wait another hour. The 500 foot bridge sits on a pontoon and can only operate when there is sufficient water depth. When the tides are low it is closed for several hours. After several years of battling between the locals (who did not want a new bridge) and developers (who wanted a new 65 ft high bridge), the new bridge is under construction and slated for completion sometime this year.

We arrived at the bridge around 7:55 – yippee – 5 minutes to spare. Well, about that time we heard sirens and saw 3 ambulances crossing the bridge to the island. The bridge tender came on the radio and told all the waiting boats there would be a delay in the 8:00 a.m. opening as he could not open the bridge until the emergency vehicles returned across the bridge. There was no way of knowing how long that would take. Fortunately, the 3 ambulances came back within 15 minutes and the bridge opened and we were again on our way. With the passage of this bridge we were now North Carolina.

After checking the charts and our progress, we decided we’d try for the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. We made good time until we reached the Cape Fear River Inlet – then we were fighting wicked current. Although we did have winds/waves pushing us, the two forces created quite large waves. We were glad when we finally left the river and turned back into the ICW.

The rest of the trip proved uneventful – until we entered Motts Channel in order to reach the anchorage. We read all the travel guides and knew that this area could be tricky, especially at low tide. Well, we were pretty much at dead low tide and what’s more, it was the lowest tide they’ve had in quite sometime. Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out the photos below.

Once we arrived at the anchorage, we got settled in and relaxed a bit. We then took the dinghy down and went into the small town and checked out the beach. We had dinner at Neptunes where the soups (clam chowder and she-crab) were excellent, but the entrees were just so-so.

Back at the boat we did a little course planning and kept watching our position with the other anchored boats. We decided maybe we should move, even though we were pretty sure we weren’t dragging. Oh dear, problems. The engine started but then stopped and wouldn’t restart. There was definitely something wrong. We won’t be moving. As it was, Gerry spent the rest of the night reading manuals and doing other research. Still stumped on what is wrong. Nothing decided by the time we went to bed. UGGHHH !!!!!!! Not a good finish to the day.

Editors Note - 5/14/10: This morning Captain Gerry found a loose wire in the engine panel, tightened it, and we were good to go.

The sun was just coming up as we headed out this morning

These were our first bridges this morning. No problem at either one as the swing bridge opened as we got there.

Pretty in Pink ?? Pink house, pink deck, pink boat house

... and houses all in a row. We really liked the design of these homes -- not too big, cute and on the water

Waiting at the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge

... and here we are going through. You can see the rodeway on the bridge. It's a swing bridge, but this one is different from the others because the road sits on the pontoon.

Several of the developments along the ICW have canal systems

Here are a couple of tugs and a dredge just off the Shallottee Inlet

There was a sign on this building advertising "Luxury Villas". Must have been a very old sign

Spotted some very nice flowers in one of the yards

We came upon a small boat flying a Greek flag -- boat name in Greek so we couldn't hail him for a pass.

As we went by, they got a lift from our wake and waved to us

This gives new meaning to the term "Greenhouse"

Passing the town of Southport -- this looked like one of those places where you'd get fantastic fish

Some more of Southport -- looked like a neat little town

This family seemed to be enjoying the day while doing a little fishing

Looking out at the ocean through the Carolina Beach Inlet

We thought this was an odd looking house

A nice grouping of trees on a small island -- this was looking out towards the ocean

Humm .... what's this. Why it's TowBoat US. After being a TowBoat US member for many years and after traveling well over 5,500 miles this past year and never needing to use their service -- guess it was time. We actually didn't call them, they were crusing up Motts Channel and saw us and suspected we might be aground. They called us and asked if we were TowBoat members. When we said yes, they said they'd come give us a little pull and then lead us into the anchorage. We probably could have backed off, or waited a bit for the tide to rise, but taking advantage of their service was --- well -- priceless.

Here's Gerry tightening up the tow line. In talking with the TowBoat captain, he told us the entrance to the channel was very confusing since the red marker was no longer there (someone had hit it). We only had the green to guide us in and since there were very large boats in the slip to our port we figured it would be deeper on the red side -- NOT -- it was only 2 or 3 feet over there at low tide. He guided us into the anchorage over a couple of other shallow spots and waited until we had the anchor set.