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| The rare palmae sandalicus |
When waiting for favorable winds, it would be difficult to
find a better place to do it than Wrightsville Beach. It has a large anchorage with a sandy bottom,
which just about any anchor will dig into, and it has a convenient public
dinghy dock within walking distance from a gorgeous beach, grocery store, ice
cream shops and Post Office. We have
been here three days, at anchor in fairly strong winds, and have not had to
worry about the anchor dragging. The
strong winds are keeping our batteries charged via our wind generator, which
loves winds of 15 to 20 knots and produces enough power to keep our
refrigerator running and still has a little extra for charging the
batteries. We went ashore, Saturday, the
first day we were here and walked around to find the grocery store, and went
inside to see what they offered. Then
walked a mile each way to the post office, because Peter had ordered a new air
filter for the engine and it was to be delivered to General Delivery on Monday,
so we needed to know where it was located.
Upon returning to the waterfront area, we discovered an ice cream shop,
so we had to sample their wares. After
that, we returned to Kite and relaxed aboard for the afternoon, taking a dip in
the warm seawater followed by a fresh-water rinse before bed.
Sunday was Beach Day!
We packed our cooler with drinks and towels, and toted our folding
chairs to the beach, one block from the dinghy dock, and enjoyed the cool
morning sun at the beach before it got too hot.
The water is turquoise blue and clear – very inviting, and it is a
refreshing temperature of about 75°F.
Surfers were getting great rides in the 5-foot waves. There was a strong undertow, but we were able
to find places where this was not a problem.
The sand was more granular than the fine sand we have in Florida, and
that made it softer and harder to walk on, because it gave way with every
step. In late morning we packed up our
beach things, showered the salt off at the public shower adjacent the dinghy
dock, and returned to Kite to avoid the hot midday sun.
Today we went to the grocery market and got a few items we are running
short of, then walked the mile to the Post Office to pick up the air filter for
the engine. We noticed on the way that
they were having a Farmers Market at a nearby park, so we stopped in at the
Farmers Market on the way back from the Post Office and picked up some fresh
blueberries for breakfasts, and a pastry that we ate immediately. It was nearly noon when we returned from
these errands, and the sky was looking a bit threatening. We had lunch and then Peter installed the new
air filter (the one that Bruce, the mechanic in Norfolk, said we didn’t really
need) onto the engine. It really looked like
we might get a thunderstorm, but at the last moment they clouds dissipated and
the sky brightened again. So after
supper we took another dip in the warm seawater from the stern, followed by a
fresh-water shower and settled in for the night.
Tomorrow we will move 20 miles down the ICW to a marina in Southport,
NC, which is a couple of miles from the Cape Fear inlet. Thursday we plan to sail out Cape Fear inlet
for a 24-hour passage to Charleston, SC, avoiding the worst sections of the ICW
in NC and SC.
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