"The Last Straw - Coming North April 2001" Bald Head Island Travelogue by grandmaR

North Carolina Shore and Oak Island light 2004

After we go out Little River Inlet, I see a bird that is mostly white and I think it is a swan. Bob says no it is a sea gull. It is too big for a gull, and it just has black tips to the wings. I look in the bird book. It is a gannet, a bird that mostly stays at sea.

We come in the Cape Fear River. Out a ways from land, the water changes color abruptly from blue to olive. It is not the depth, so it must be the outflow from the river.

Approaching Bald Head 2001

As we were coming in between Bald Head Shoals and Jay Bird Shoals, a little power boat named WET DREAMS asked us to turn on our radio to 16. It was already on - so I asked him what his problem was. He didn't answer or I couldn't hear an answer. He apparently was having engine problems, as he later got a tow from a local sailboat. With a name like that I would have hesitated to give him a line, plus we were bucking a current of a couple of knots and trying to stay in the center of the channel.

Harbor entrance and breakwaters 2004

We get into Bald Head after 43.9 miles at 5.9 mph by 3 pm.

We got fuel and then tied up. I paid, and then went back to the boat and discovered I'd been overcharged, so I called them and they gave me a credit.

This was just the last straw. Not only is the marina unsafe in some winds, they have moved the store so you have to rent a golf cart to get to it and they've eliminated the Boat US discount, but they can't be bothered to charge the right amount.

Ferry with island in background 2004

GOOSE CHASE came in ahead of us, and I went over and talked to them. We agreed that we would have to leave early in the a.m. so that we have a favorable current up the river and through Snow's Cut. As I walk on the docks there is a female mallard quacking pretty vociferously. A male mallard is making soft apologetic quacks at her. Two laughing gulls are sitting together on a post squawking in unison. I see a large flock of ibis - a couple of hundred - wheeling over the island.

Oak Island in the early morning 2004

GOOSE CHASE leaves by 6:30 and we leave Bald Head a little later to catch the tide coming into the river. According to my figures, the tide will be coming in up to about 8:30, and if we go through Snow Cut before 9:30, the tide will be with us too.

Bald Head ferry 2004

We have a fair current (going the same direction as we are) up the Cape Fear River past the Ft. Fisher Ferry dock, and through Snow's Cut

Ferry dock area in the early morning

Since the current in the Cape Fear River can be up to 4 knots and our boat only motors at about 5 knots, it's worthwhile to check to be sure of the schedule.

Next: Our first visit to Harbor Village