I recently received a call from my friend James Michie (who joined me onboard the delivery of my boat in the spring) asking if I could join delivery on his 65 Outer Reef from Norfolk to Palm Beach. Of course I said YES!

I met the boat in Portsmouth at Tidewater Yacht Marina and we soon made our way to Statute Mile 1 of the Intercostal Waterway, passing by all of the glorious Navy Ships. With fast moving Low pressure systems coming out of the Northwest Territories of Canada this time of year, we didn’t risk the trip going off-shore.

Making good time, we had to breeze by Coinjock Marina, with a farther down-range destination in mind. Coinjock Marina seemed desolate; has the the southbound traffic already long passed? 😦

With daylight waning we found our way across the Albemarle Sound to the Alligator River with intension of anchoring out at the end of the Alligator River.

However a keen ear on the radio gave us lead to Alligator River Marina at the north side of the Alligator swing bridge, which neither of us knew of.. so we decided to tuck in to their quaint dock to provide for a good nights rest for the crew.

Onward at first light pushing south down the ICW, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and provided a smooth journey down the ICW via Pungo River, Goose Creek, and Adam’s Creek.

We made it into Beaufort Town Docks just in time for the last light of the day.

A long few days lie ahead. With weather blowing offshore, we continued down the inside passage, hoping to make Southport NC. We made some friends along the way.

 

 

Wrightsville Beach area was an eye-opening experience to the destruction of Hurricane Florence. We saw first hadn’t the destruction of boats, shoaling, and missing or out of place channel markers. I would advise any mariners transiting this area to do so with extreme caution, and only on a favorable tide.

 

We finally made our way to head offshore at Winyah Bay Inlet just as the sun was going down.

We prepared for a long 60 hour haul to Palm Beach. A new moon gave us a beautiful “God’s toenail” moonrise and plenty of darkness to stand our 3-on 3-off watch schedule throughout the nights.

With a nice swell still coming out of the East, I can’t say it was the “funnest” part of the trip… as you can see by my face I was very excited to see Lake Worth Inlet in our horizon 😉 

We arrived in 7 days from Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth to Australian Docks in Palm Beach without any incident to report. Another safe and successful delivery under the belt!