Every town has its individual character and first impressions usually mean a lot. The big “Harbor of Hospitality “sign in front of the free docks in Elizabeth City says a lot. The first thing I noticed coming into Southport was the every other piling seemed to have a sign on it saying, “Posted”, “Private Dock”, “Keep Out”, “Do Not Land”. Ropes across all of the ramps provide the message to anyone who can’t read English.
We rowed over to the town dock after anchoring. There was a float but no ladder so no way to get ashore after tying up a dinghy. Some of the boats had oyster large enough to eat growing on the hull. The rest looked as though they had also been there a bit longer than the 24 hour free docking period permitted by the sign. The slips were full and it appeared that, like many town docks, it had been taken over as free storage by people who no longer cared about or used their boats.
A fellow started waving and yelling at us with a sprinkling of four letter words. I said to Lee, “It’s only noon, maybe we should just pull up and move on to the next stop.” A woman then came all the way down the length of the dock and told us that the fellow had had a stroke and was trying to point us to a free float hidden behind a couple of fishing boats.
About two minutes after we had our feet on the shore, a fellow came down from a house and offered us the use of his truck, the washer and dryer in his garage, and gave us a map and briefing on the town. First impressions aren’t always accurate and I’m glad we stayed. We will be staying here today as well as there are thunderstorms in the forecast and strong winds tonight in what looks like would be a somewhat dicey anchorage farther down the ditch.
We’ll be doing more sightseeing today so I may be back with more pictures but here are the first ones.
Gee, Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore:
The name of the boat is, Almost There. I wish it had come out better in the picture.
Walking down these streets with live oaks and palm trees in a tee shirt made me feel like I was finally deep in the south. Wrightsville Beach could have been Old Orchard Beach in Maine or the Jersey Shore but this is way more different than any town street I have walked yet.
Strider on the waterfront:
There are strong southwest winds forecast for tonight so I pulled up the anchor, ran Strider up as close to the shore as I dared, a put the anchor down with the keel nearly touching bottom (It still hasn’t yet in over 3000 miles this trip.). This evening, after the harbor traffic is over, I’ll put out a second anchor by dinghy to hold me off if the wind comes around to the north. This is a very small anchorage and riding to sufficient scope to accommodate both winds and a full swing would mean having my stern about a boat length from the docks.
We rowed over to the town dock after anchoring. There was a float but no ladder so no way to get ashore after tying up a dinghy. Some of the boats had oyster large enough to eat growing on the hull. The rest looked as though they had also been there a bit longer than the 24 hour free docking period permitted by the sign. The slips were full and it appeared that, like many town docks, it had been taken over as free storage by people who no longer cared about or used their boats.
A fellow started waving and yelling at us with a sprinkling of four letter words. I said to Lee, “It’s only noon, maybe we should just pull up and move on to the next stop.” A woman then came all the way down the length of the dock and told us that the fellow had had a stroke and was trying to point us to a free float hidden behind a couple of fishing boats.
About two minutes after we had our feet on the shore, a fellow came down from a house and offered us the use of his truck, the washer and dryer in his garage, and gave us a map and briefing on the town. First impressions aren’t always accurate and I’m glad we stayed. We will be staying here today as well as there are thunderstorms in the forecast and strong winds tonight in what looks like would be a somewhat dicey anchorage farther down the ditch.
We’ll be doing more sightseeing today so I may be back with more pictures but here are the first ones.
Gee, Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore:
The name of the boat is, Almost There. I wish it had come out better in the picture.
Walking down these streets with live oaks and palm trees in a tee shirt made me feel like I was finally deep in the south. Wrightsville Beach could have been Old Orchard Beach in Maine or the Jersey Shore but this is way more different than any town street I have walked yet.
Strider on the waterfront:
There are strong southwest winds forecast for tonight so I pulled up the anchor, ran Strider up as close to the shore as I dared, a put the anchor down with the keel nearly touching bottom (It still hasn’t yet in over 3000 miles this trip.). This evening, after the harbor traffic is over, I’ll put out a second anchor by dinghy to hold me off if the wind comes around to the north. This is a very small anchorage and riding to sufficient scope to accommodate both winds and a full swing would mean having my stern about a boat length from the docks.
