4/28/22
After many dockside conversations, about future destinations between here and home, we chose a route that would take us to a few different destinations than the ones we visited going south.
Our first stop was Swansboro, located 80 miles up the ICW from Southport. This long trek was in the mostly protected Cape Fear River and Topsail Sound. We encountered a few restrictive bridges and timed our progress to coordinate with their openings. This area is sparsely populated so there were few “no wake” zones. We kept our engine turning at an efficient 1600 rpms while our speed varied from a leisurely 7 knots going against the current to a rip roaring 12 knots going with it. We made the trip in 9 hours and tied up at Caspers Marina around 4.
Swansboro is a quaint, small town with a few restaurants and shops. We were 1 of 2 transients at the dock and after a stroll around town, we discovered why this is not one of the more popular destinations along the route. Swansboro is perfectly nice but there is not a lot to it (for those of us limited to exploring by foot). We had thought about bringing bicycles along to expand our exploration but couldn’t put this together. Swansboro is a place where they would have come in handy. There are beaches and a touristy area nearby (but not that near) so we walked the town, bought a few things, and prepared to leave early the next morning.
Our next destination was Oriental North Carolina, 50 miles away. We had reserved a slip at Oriental Marina and planned a 1 night stay. When we tied up, we walked the docks and met the crews of several boats that we had passed(or were passed by) during the previous few days.
We are now traveling in company with several other north-bound boats and we are part of a loose daily routine. The slower sailboats leave earlier than the faster power boats. We are in the middle of the pack and pass the sailboats in the mornings while we are passed by the faster power boats in the afternoon. Many of us wind up at the same place the next night or reconnect at Marinas over the next few days. The speed differential is influenced by personal habits (early risers vs. late sleepers), boat performance (sailboats can’t travel as fast and powerboats tend to be easier to steer at higher speeds), anxiety about the planned route (the wind tends to pick up later in the day and smaller or slower boats may want to travel farther earlier). At the end of the day, most boats have travelled at 6-8 knots for 5-8 hours and arrive within an hour of each other. The exceptions are the big sport fishing boats that go zooming by at 20 knots, we rarely see these boats again.
Oriental Marina provided a convivial location for dockside chats and an exchange of information about past and present destinations. These conversations help shape our travel plans with timely information not found in (even the most recent) guide books. Adjacent to this marina is “The Provision Company” which sells everything from fire extinguishers to prepared frozen dinners. A well thought-out store catering to the transient boater. we enjoyed a fabulous homemade quiche lorraine I
From Oriental we crossed the (Nasty) Neuse River (which was much more benign than when we were going south), a short section of Pamlico Sound (also better behaved than our last transit) and up the Pungo River to Belhaven. Here we chose to tie up at Belhaven Marina (different from our south bound stop at Dowry Creek). This is a small town with 2 restaurants and our favorite (Spoon River) was closed so we ate aboard and left early for Alligator River Marina (home of Gas Station Fried Chicken).
That “gas station” fried chicken at Alligator River is very tasty. I order it every time we go there….