Travel Tips

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Old Kiln ? on west shore of the Cape Fear River

Cape Fear River

We left early so that we could carry the tide up the river to Snow's Cut and also so that we could go past Carolina Beach (where shoaling had been reported) at high tide.

As we passed the Fisher Island ferry depot on the Southport side we saw what looked like an old kiln that we've never noticed before.

When people pass us in the river, it is too wide to make them pass close so we can't cut in behind them easily.

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Boat in Snow's Cut

Snow's Cut

There wasn't too much current against us in Snow's Cut. We have been warned about extensive shoaling not only at Carolina Beach, but also between there and the New River. We went through Carolina Beach about 0934 and saw better than 8 feet in the inlet area but the tide (which is 4.4 feet) was near to high.

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Tour Boat

Carolina Beach on Earth Day

We saw a catamaran tour boat go out into the inlet are - must be connected with Earth Day- they have buckets and long handled implements aboard.

Saw a wooden skiff sitting on a wooden platform and wondered how they get it up there. Also saw one of the ever popular (in this area) boat lifts for small boats with no pier leading to it. How do they get from the boat to shore after it is on the lift?

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RosalieAnn behind power boat on lift

Masonboro

We are going to be in Masonboro early. I call and she says she will have someone out on the dock (which are floating docks with only cleats - no pilings), but she doesn't.

We find where we are supposed to tie up and I stand on the deck and say HELP. The guy washing his big power boat (which is way up on one of those lifts) comes to get our lines. The wind slams the boat sideways into the dock, and we are here at 1020. The trip was 21.4 sm and took a little less than 3 hours.

In Masonboro Boatyard and Marina we had about 7 feet as it was approaching low tide in the slip (not at dead low). They have a courtesy van and also email capability in the boater's lounge which is on the 2nd floor. The bathrooms are really nice, but we are really too tired still to do much and for me that includes a shower.

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Snowball bush on walk to restaurant

Going to Trail's End

We walked up to Trail's End for dinner. We've seen the restaurant from the ICW. This is a very fancy restaurant with black waiters in uniform with cloth tablecloths and napkins. Fortunately it wasn't snooty or too expensive. They have the marks where the water level came up to in the various hurricanes marked on the deck and door posts. They gave us a bumper sticker (which I have no place to put it on the boat) saying "I found my way to Trail's End."

They had an hors d'oeuvre table in addition to the salad bar (both included with each meal) and it included crackers and toast with cheese spread and shrimp spread to put on them, shrimp and pasta salad, fried clams, meatballs, asparagus vinaigrette, things on toothpicks, and little fancy round things with fluted cream dip on top. Also chopped eggs and various kinds of olives for the tossed salad.

We ate looking out over the parking lot to the water. I had chicken and Bob had steak for the main part of the dinner. They both came with a nice quarter slice of pineapple, green beans in a separate little skillet, and we both picked twice baked potato as our starch. I had a slide of caramel apple pie for dessert.

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April 21 - RosalieAnn at the dock at low tide

April 22, 2004

We considered going out the Masonboro Inlet and coming in at Beaufort to avoid the shoaling, but we didn't think it would be that bad.

Bob was under the impression that we were 5 miles from the Wrightsville Beach bridge which only opens on the hour, and we were only about 3 miles from it. So we cast off in the marina about 0745 to get to the 0900 opening. There is very little water in the marina, but the tide is coming up.

Next: Running Aground in Wrightsville Beach