Wrightsville Beach, NC

The fleet passing through the Surf City, NC swing bridge

Running the ICW south from Mile Hammock Bay is so simple and so easy that a "caveman could do it" as the commercial says! All you have to do is stay in the middle between the shore line 25 yards on either side of the boat and also follow all the other boats. Yes, we have a boat parade going south. Today was really fun with boats from New York, Maine, Maryland, Canada and even New Zealand in a pack of about 15 boats.

Everyone bunched up at the bridges to wait for the scheduled openings and then we all ran through the bridges in a single line. "Bring it on, keep it coming, get up here" are the calls from the bridge tenders as they urge the fleet of southbound yachts to get close and keep the speed up. Boaters really get nervous when close together and they all tend to slow down to a crawl. This compounds the problem of getting through the bridge and then getting OUT OF THE WAY and moving on. Sailboats seem to take FOREVER to get back to full speed after these bridges, whereas powerboats make the bridge and then HIT IT. Sailboats like to putt-putt through the bridges at 2 MPH and then slowly, like 10 minutes worth of slowly, come up to speed and get back to 6 or 7 knots of speed....whoa...hold on, Nellie!

So, it was bridge #22 today as we approached Wrightsville Beach, NC. This is a wonderful beach town, where you can dock the dinghy and walk one block to the ocean beach! Pizza, ice cream, pubs, and many shops make it a joy to explore the town. Yes...Wrightsville Beach is a place I could move to, it is a great town.....

Sand dunes at the Swansboro, NC turn

Two Pelicans fly by the dunes, Swansboro, NC on the ICW

Yes, it is really PINK...a pink house on the ICW, and we are not even in Florida yet!

Yacht YEHBUDI II from Auckland, NZ

An interesting dock to the water from a huge shoreline home

Figure Eight Island Swing Bridge with IP460 Cutter Loose

The Wrightsville Beach Bridge is #22 since Norfolk, VA

A cottage on the Motts Channel, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Finally....access to our first beach from the boat. We love to take our boat to places where we can walk to a beach!