Stormy weather

 11/19-We spent the last three days in Carolina Beach on a mooring. The town has these moorings and they are very inexpensive so they are full all most every night. We walked over to the beach one day and watched some rather big surf and all the surfers trying their luck. One guy told us this was the best surf in a while. 

   Carolina Beach is decidedly a beach town. Condos and rental apartments line the bay and shore. There is sand everywhere. It will be years getting it out of the boat. The weather was beautiful and it was even hot out. 

    We left today and crossed the Cape Fear River which is an infamous crossing. We had heard all kinds of nasty stories and were pretty nervous. The trouble was the tide. The word was to only attempt it with an ebb tide as when the current was flooding with an opposing wind it could get quite rough. Our problem was that the ebb current didn’t start until 3:00 in the afternoon. So we picked a marina that was relatively close so we could get there before dark. We ended up leaving early and caught the ebb tide out of the cut and into the flood tide of the Cape Fear River. Turns out it was a nonevent. We had only a half knot of current against us and the wind was light. It turned out to be an easy passage. 

    We tied up at Deep Point Marina in Southport. This is the main ferry terminal for Bald Head Island. Bald Head Island is this large island off the coast which is filled with great beaches and million dollar homes. There are no cars allowed on the island so they all park here. There is parking for 2000 cars here. The ferry terminal is like an airport with drop offs and security. 

    There are signs all over saying to watch out for alligators and snakes. I asked the attendant and he said there was about a 4 foot alligator that hung around the place at times. No word on the snakes!!

    There is a fairly large storm coming so we are slow poking along to be sure we have a place when it hits. Also we are trying to find a place where we could have some sort of Thanksgiving celebration. It will mean getting a marina tomorrow and staying for 3 or 4 days. The storm is supposed to hit on Tuesday and last through Wednesday. We will see what happens…

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