It was a good thing that we only planned a short day, 20 miles to Bald Head Island. When we arrived at our anchorage south of Wrightsville Beach, it was near high tide, but the next morning, when our friends on Effie tried to leave, it was low tide, and the shallow bar across the entrance just didn't have enough water over it. We went out in our dinghy with a boathook to sound the entrance and decided we'd better wait for more water. By noon the water had risen two feet, and we all easily made it over the bar and back into the ICW.
The wind was mostly behind us, so we motorsailed and made as much as 9 knots over the ground when the current was with us. The current, of course, was alternately with and against us as we went by inlets, but we made good speed to the canal which connects the lagoon area behind the barrier islands to the Cape Fear River. We took down the sail for the canal, but once we made it through the confusing sea of markers at the river entrance, we put both sails up and turned off the engine and had a lovely sail to Bald Head Island.
Bald Head Island is a resort island, where visitors arrive by ferry and ride golf carts -- no cars are allowed on most roads -- to their huge, expensive vacation homes. On the Atlantic sides, wide beaches join to form Cape Fear; the "back" of the island is a network of marshes and saltwater rivers, and the interior is densely forested. The development is for the most part fairly tasteful. A large section of the island has been set aside as a "maritime forest preserve", and the houses are well spaced out, in no doubt carefully prescribed grays and sandy browns which blend well into their surroundings.
It was still chilly the next day but the wind had died down, so in the afternoon we unshipped the bicycles and went for a ride around the island. We stopped to climb the "Old Baldy" lighthouse, which was built around 1817 and is now only a tourist relic (although nicely restored), to hike a few nature trails through the forest preserve, and of course to stroll on the beach. That night we tried to watch the Leonid meteor shower, but the bright moon, the many lights on shore, and the thin cloud cover all conspired to thwart us.
After Bald Head Island, our "southbound" route turned almost due west as we passed Southport and headed for the border between the Carolinas. We anchored just over the line, in the Calabash Creek, another anchorage where timing the tide was critical. In order to make it out of the creek in the morning, we had to get the anchor up by 7 am. All four boats in the anchorage slid out within minutes of each other.
Our early start meant that even though we were bucking a strong current we got to Barefoot Landing before 10 am. Barefoot Landing is an outlet mall on the outskirts of Myrtle Beach, on the strip of land between Highway 17 and the ICW. Along the back of the mall there's a long floating dock, and it's free. It's really popular too, as most boats end up rafting 2 and 3 deep; we lucked into a Windom-sized slot (which I docked in most beautifully, impressing at least myself!), and then Effie, who we've been traveling more or less with for the last few days, tied up to us.
It's sort of weird coming out of this lovely forested river and narrow canal system and tying up to a shopping mall. Of course, most of the stores in this outlet mall are of little interest to boaters; where the heck are we going to put Lenox China or wear Discount Suits? But there are huge theme restaurants and shows, and a bus to a regular shopping mall (where we visited our third different Radio Shack on the ICW -- I think we're going to stop at every one before we're through!), and it's generally a party scene.
But we're looking forward to the Waccamaw River, which begins a few miles down the "road" and is supposed to be lovely. A few nights of quiet anchorages, and we'll be ready for Charleston.