OtherGoose: Friday Nov 28 continued

Friday Nov 28 cont’d

We had a pretty good day traveling down from Mile 265 to Mile 297. We had two bridges to get through and timed it [?] perfectly so we only had to wait for about 20 minutes.

It was cold this morning and the temperature didn’t get much above 50 but the sun is great. As we got ready to leave, watched some people out along the shore oystering? Clamming? Crabbing?They were walking, pulling their boats behind them.

We left the anchorage with the tide but it changed early on n the morning. When the tide is with us we can run at 6 knots but when it turns we slow down to 2.5 in some areas. We are running about 3-5 miles away from the ocean and every so often we catch sight of it over the sand dunes.

Between Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach, there were flat areas where the ocean was very visible and we could see “the elephants dancing”. But the shore is very shallow so it makes the ocean look rougher than it is. On the flats there were fisherman fishing in the shallows and at the same time duck hunters were standing on the dunes firing shotguns. We couldn’t see what they were hunting... the only birds around were seagulls...yuck!

The houses along the river are still getting bigger. Once in a while there is a small “cottage” that looks manageable..only 10-12 rooms and single level.

Dolphins still fish in the channel and pelicans are getting more plentiful. The egrets stalk along the edge of the grass picking up food and where the banks aren’t sand, they are dunes of shells. If it wasn’t so friggin’ cold, we’d stop, launch the dinghy and explore these islands...hopefully in Georgia and Florida we can do that.

We travelled as far as Carolina Beach and are docked in the State park. Great docks... $30.00/ night. That’s less than $1.00/ft which is CHEAP. We are going to walk to the Food Lion tomorrow to do some groceries and then get some laundry done. There is so much condensation in the boat, our stuff gets wet and musty. And boiling the kettle for dishes and tea doesn’t help. We will probably stay here for 2 nights just so we can get some exercise.