Battleship North Carolina

On Monday, November 23rd, we left Wrightsville Beach with Southern Style to take her up the Cape Fear River to a boatyard for some bottom paint.  We left at first light so we could be there by around 9AM for our scheduled hall out.

Sun coming up as we leave Wrightsville Beach

 Coming through Snow's Cut.  This connects the Intracoastal Waterway with the Cape Fear River.

Heron fishing along Snow's Cut

Downtown Wilmington in view under the south bridge.  This bridge can lift straight up between the two towers you see to allow large boats to pass underneath.  Some clouds had rolled in by the time we got to downtown.

Southern Style in the slings at Bellhart Marine

This is the view from behind us while in the yard.  There are several tugs and the south bridge right where we are pulled out.

Here she is getting a spa day.

On Tuesday, November 24th while all the work was being done on Southern Style, I was really just in the way.  I decided to visit the Battleship North Carolina.  She is in her permanent berth across from downtown Wilmington about a mile from the boatyard.  She is now a memorial to all those from NC that served in WWII.

Battleship North Carolina

Her Kingfisher airplane was used for spotting enemy ships and planes, rescues, and supply drops.

You are allowed extensive access to the inside of the ship as well as the outside decks.

View from the control room

     The keel for the USS North Carolina was laid in the New York Navy Yard in October 1937.  She was the first of 10 fast battleships to join the American fleet in WW II.  When commissioned in 1941 she was armed with nine 16 inch/45 caliber guns, twenty 5 inch/38 caliber guns, sixty 40mm/56 caliber guns, and forty-eight 20mm/70 caliber guns.  She was 728 feet in length and 108 wide.  There were 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men on board.  During WW II, the battleship North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater and earned 15 battle stars.  Her primary role as a fast battleship was the protection of aircraft carriers, and she excelled at this task.  In the battle of the Eastern Solomons in August of 1942, her anti-aircraft barrage was instrumental in saving the aircraft carrier Enterprise.  Although Japanese radio announcements claimed 6 times to have sunk the North Carolina, she survived many close calls and near misses.  On Sept. 15, 1942 her hull was struck by a Japanese torpedo, but the quick response of her crew allowed her to keep up with the fleet.  By the end of the war she had cover over 300,000 miles and lost only 10 men and had 67 wounded.

After the war she served as a training vessel for midshipmen for a short time.  By 1958 it was announced that the ship would be crapped.  This led to a statewide campaign in North Carolina to save the ship.  The Save Our Ship (SOS) campaign was successful and on October 2, 1961 she was pulled into her current berth across from downtown Wilmington, NC.  She is the North Carolina's State Memorial to all its WW II veterans and the 11,000 North Carolinians that died during that war.

They have done a very nice job of keeping her looking good.  Currently some work is being done on the hull by a contractor.  They have built a retaining wall around her so as to keep the water from the river away while they are working.  Here you can see the wall and her hull in the mud.

View of one of the churches in downtown Wilmington from across the river at the battleship

Ship coming down the Cape Fear River visible from the battleship park.

Looking down the Cape Fear River at sunset from the boatyard

Downtown Wilmington at dusk from the boatyard

The yard work was finished up and we were back in the water Wednesday morning.  We moved the boat back to Wrightsville Beach Wednesday, November 25th.  On Thanksgiving we left the boat and drove to Raleigh to spend the holiday with our good friends the Terrys.  Their daughter and son in law were also there for the holiday, so we had a houseful. 

Robin and daughter Lacey socializing by the fire pit on the Terry's back deck

Keith enjoying some oysters the Friday after Thanksgiving

And this cute doggy is June who belongs to Lacey and Davis.  She was wishing her people were less energetic.  Poor June is just exhausted from the festivities.

 It was a wonderful time visiting.  As always Miss Robin's Thanksgiving dinner was phenomenal.  We also had oysters with the Terry's and their neighbors John and Alison Grimes the day after Thanksgiving, which has become another Thanksgiving tradition we have done for several years.  Unfortunately we had to return to the boat Friday night.  The weather was promising for us to run the boat offshore to Charleston Saturday and that is what we did.  Saturday bright and early Southern Style left Wrightsville Beach and headed south.  Sanibel Island, Florida will be our winter destination.

Going out the inlet at Wrightsville Beach headed for Charleston Saturday morning

Wrightsville Beach

 So we are here in Wrightsville Beach for the month of November.  This is a routine stop for us in the spring and fall.  We will often get some waxing and touch-up work done on the boat by a fellow we know here that does a great job.  It has been a little bit of an adjustment for me.  Having spent 5 months on Ocracoke, I got used to the quiet life.  Few people and few cars.  Here in Wrightsville and Wilmington it feels like New York City to me right now.  I will just have to make the best of it.   I have been enjoying the very nice Harris Teeter grocery store here.  It is a treat to have so many things to choose from.  I also have easy access with the Jeep to any number of stores (fabric) and otherwise.  So I have been stocking the boat while convenient and doing errands.  I got my hair done for the first time in a while and we also got the Jeep a tune-up.  In addition, I have been hitting tennis balls several times a week at the park, and I've had the kayak out for a paddle or two.

Paddling around the marsh just north of the Wrightsville Beach Bridge

There is a small sandbar north of the Wrightsville Drawbridge that people have had a flag, palm tree, and parking meter planted on for years.  It is still there.  I paddled by at high tide so you could not see the sandbar, but at low tide it is out of the water.  During the summer people pull their small boats up to it and hang out watching the boats go by on the Intracoastal.

Parking meter on the sandbar.

Here is one of the other bridges that goes across to the beach side of Wrightsville.  This one cannot be opened so only small boats can pass through it.  It runs parallel and east of the Intracoastal across Banks Channel.

The past several years we stayed at a dock behind a house here in Wrightsville; however this year we are at the Wrightsville Beach Marina.  This is a little like deja vu.  For nearly 15 years we had a slip and boat here at this marina.  Good old "Coastal Comfort" was our trusty Meridian 41.  She was a great boat and there are time we both miss her.  She was sold so we could purchase "Southern Style" when we were getting ready to retire and move aboard.  Being here at the marina does bring back many memories.

Wrightsville Beach Marina and Intracoastal Waterway as seen from the WB Bridge.

The marina is on the left of the picture along with Southern Style docked for the month of November

Closer view of Southern Style

This is a view of the walkway along the marina.  Our old slip was located just behind where I stood to take the picture.

Since we are docked right along the Intracoastal, there is a lot of boat traffic that passes alongside of us.  Below is a tug pushing a barge that looks like I could reach out and touch the side.  I snapped it with my phone while inside the boat.  It is even crazier when they go by in the middle of the night.

We are getting ready to take the boat up the Cape Fear River to downtown Wilmington.  There is a boat yard there where we will be pulled out of the water for some fresh bottom paint.  It should only be a 2 day process (out on Monday and back in by Wednesday).  For Thanksgiving we are driving to Raleigh for a day or two to spend time with some old friends, the Terrys.  Weather permitting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving we may make a run for Charleston.  It is getting to be time for us to make tracks toward our winter destination ( Captiva Island, FL).  Next week is likely to be a busy one.

The Best Layed Plans

      Sunday, November 1st was our departure day from Ocracoke.   The plan was for us to take two days to move the boat and Jeep from Ocracoke to Wrightsville Beach, NC.  I would take the Cedar Island ferry with the Jeep, which takes me from Ocracoke to Cedar Island. Then from Cedar Island it is a 60 minute drive to Morehead City.  This is where Keith would take the boat the first day we left Ocracoke.  We would overnight at Morehead City Yacht Basin Marina.  The next day we would leave for Wrightsville Beach.  I would be driving the Jeep and he taking the boat again.  That would put us in Wrightsville Beach on Monday, November 2nd.  The Jeep would stay with Keith and I needed to get a rental car for 3-4 weeks.  I was going to PA to help my mother during knee surgery that was scheduled for November 9th.  As is often the case, things did not go quite as planned.

     The afternoon before leaving Ocracoke (Saturday, October 31st) I got a call from my mom that her surgeon tested positive for COVID and all his surgeries were rescheduled.  Her surgery was now scheduled for December 14th.  Well what to do?   I knew she was upset about the change.  It also looked like there was a real possibility that the December date might not happen as hospitals in her area are getting close to stopping elective surgeries due to "the virus".  I decided to make the trip to PA, but just for a week to visit.  Ok, so we have a plan "B".  But wait, not so fast. 

      I had a spot booked on the Sunday, November 1st, 7:30AM ferry to Cedar Island.  The night before our departure on Saturday, October 31st at 5PM I got a text on my phone from the NC Ferry Service that my ferry had been canceled.  There were no ferries running to the mainland from the south end of Ocracoke due to mechanical failure.  The only way off the island was to drive to the north end of Ocracoke and cross on the Hatteras ferry.  Then I would have to drive from Hatteras to Morehead, making what would have been a 60 minute drive from Cedar Island into a 5 hour drive from Hatteras.  The weather was also to turn very windy again Sunday afternoon, so I knew I had to get going early as they might shut down the Hatteras ferry as well due to weather.  With all this I thought if I was driving so far north to get back around to the mainland; maybe I should leave Sunday with the Jeep and just continue heading to PA after crossing on the Hatteras ferry.  Keith would be OK without a vehicle for just a week (since my PA trip was shortened).  Ok, so plan "C".  But wait there's more.

So at 6:00AM Sunday, November 1st I got in the Jeep and Keith untied the lines, and we both took off.  I was not a mile from the marina heading north on Highway 12 to the Hatteras ferry when some kind of warning bell started dinging at me in the Jeep.  There was no indicator light on, so I had no idea what was wrong.  I turned the Jeep around to go back to the marina, and the dinging stopped.  Turning again toward the north end of the island I drove a mile or two and it started again.  Ahhhh!!!  I continued toward the ferry at the north end of the island.  When I turned off the head lights the warning bell did not come back on.  I got almost to the ferry when I came upon a section of the dunes that had been washed away in the wind and waves and the Atlantic Ocean was coming across the road.

Below waves washing across the road. (Sorry it is a little blurry.  I was trying to drive and take the picture).  That is the Atlantic Ocean just to the right of the picture.  You can see the break in the dunes.

I knew I had to get to the ferry before it shut down, so I carefully drove through the surf, knowing roughly where the road was.  The Jeep did fine and I got to the ferry just as the 6:30 AM ferry was pulling away from the dock.  Ahhhhh!!!!   Now I had to wait until the 7:30AM ferry.  Ok, not a problem.  While waiting for the ferry I was able to get Keith on the phone to tell him about the alarm I had when the headlights were on.  We couldn't figure out for sure what it was.  Our concern was it could be the alternator going bad, but we weren't sure.  I was apprehensive about driving all the way to PA and not being able to use the headlights if I needed to.  We talked about several options for me to try such as removing one of the fuses so the alarm wouldn't come on with the lights on.  I ultimately decided on a plan "D".  I would drive the Jeep as originally planned to Morehead City, then Wrightsville Beach the next day.  There I could get the rental car to make the trip to PA and Keith could  have the Jeep and investigate the alarm.  I called my mom to let her know and off I went on the 7:30 AM ferry to Hatteras.  Thankfully it was an otherwise non-eventful drive to Morehead.  The next day I drove to Wrightsville and Keith took the boat with all going well.

Keith coming under the Wrightsville Beach Bridge with Southern Style

We got all situated at the Wrightsville Beach Marina.  I took the rental car to PA on Tuesday, November 3rd and spent a week visiting family.  The Jeep is fine.  Keith is a genius with fixing things and he got everything sorted out, it was a bad turn signal bulb.  We will be in Wrightsville Beach for the month of November, then make our way to the west side of FL.  We plan on staying on Captiva Island in FL for the winter from January through March.  I will likely make another post or two from here in Wrightsville Beach.  So that is the plan for now, but as you know, "plans can change".