Scott here. Today we left Myrtle Beach Yacht Club and ended up in Carolina Beach Municipal Marina Mooring Field. We were going to anchor but the anchors seemed a little sketchy so we decided to drop $30 and pick up a ball. But, first let me tell you a little about the trip here.

We decided we didn’t need to leave to early. You may remember our planned departure time 9:00 am. The night before Rita heard 9:30, either would have been good for me, but we were ready at 9 am.

Getting out of the slip was pretty easy. Winds were blowing at 12 mph, but it was pretty calm in the marina. Rita decided to release mid-ship line first, then aft and jump on the boat and finally the bow line that we tied back to the boat. It worked out perfectly!

My job as the captain is to move the boat without hitting anything. It can be stressful. Rita’s job, in my humble opinion, is more difficult. Getting the lines back on the boat with out falling in the water. Getting on the boat without falling in and making sure I don’t hit anything as I leave the dock. She has the boat pole with her to help push off the dock if necessary. Hardest part is to communicate to me what she is seeing as she is my eyes in the back of the boat as I can not see the swim platform.

She is better at describing what is happening to me instead of yelling “Ahhhh” or “Shit!” Not always, sometimes I still need to ask what is happening, but there is major improvement! All that to say, docking with her as my 1st mate is getting pretty easy as our communication has improved so much.

I should say we used what is commonly called “marriage savors.” They are duplex headphones that cover one ear that allows us to talk without yelling at each other. Click on the link to the Amazon page that describes them. They are not cheap, but they are worth it.

We crossed into North Carolina today. Out of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina; so far North Carolina is the prettiest, at least based on what we have seen on the ICW. GA sucked (sorry to those that love GA), it is just my opinion.

No area that was of super concern today. Although as we passed by Holden Beach, NC is seemed like a town we could have spent a couple of days. Once we left the Southport area and entered the Cape Fear River the waves and wind really picked up. Of course, big boats that pass close by going 21 mph leave a large wake doesn’t help either!

But our anchorage was only three miles further once we left the Cape Fear River. Once we decided we didn’t want to anchor here we called the marina to talk with the dockmaster and a mooring ball was available. A quick “send” on the Dockwa app sent our reservation request and he approved it while we were talking.

Our closest dinghy dock is about 100 yards away. Very nice! We took Jazzy on her walk and the Atlantic Ocean and beach are only 3-4 blocks away. A walk on the beach made Jazzy happy. Back to the boat and we sat on the bow to enjoy the sunset. Later, before dark, we took Jazzy on her last walk and went to a dinghy dock that was farther away and closer to town. We may or may not have had ice cream on that walk!

A few days ago we virtually met a couple traveling on Texas Trails. I sent them a message on Aqua-Maps (one of our applications we use for charting our course every day.) I was asking about an anchorage they were in at the time. We continued to communicate on Nebo. Nebo is one of the tracking apps we use (see the link below.) Anyway, I noticed they were on a mooring ball right next to us. They arrived here earlier in the day, and I was just occupied with everything else I didn’t notice, right away, that we knew our neighbor. They took the feature image on this post! Thank you Eric & Muffet!

Let’s see how the planning went for the day.

Initial Plan
Date: April 13, 2024
Nebo Link: Click here
Spot Link: Click here
Crew: Captain Scott, 1st Mate Rita, & K9 Jazzy
Start at: 9:00 am ACTUAL 9:00 AM
End at: xx:00 pm Should have said 3 pm ACTUAL 2:53 PM
Total Time: xx hours (5:44 hours travel time plus time to undock, no wake zones and anchor) Should have said 6 hours. ACTUAL 5:57 HOURS
Distance: 51.7 miles 52.5 MILES

Pretty good today! Let’s see what tomorrow holds!