South Harbor Cove, Southport, NC

We had a long cruise on Friday, May 11 on another gorgeous day - sunny, warm, and with little wind.  Perfect!  We traveled largely along a canal lined with homes and what seemed like scores of three deckers with very little landscaping. Their saving grace, besides being on the waterfront, is that they had lovely views of the undeveloped eastern side of the ICW.

Passing an open cut to the ocean, there was a pretty little beach with people enjoying the beautiful day.

A picturesque lighthouse was located in a curious area on the western shore of the ICW. Not sure of  its purpose, but it made for a nice landmark.

Today we had the current with us and at one point we were “flying” at 9 knots.  A portion of the cruise took us through a notoriously “skinny” area of extensive shoaling. Fortunately, between the excellent notes on our Active Captain website from recent travelers and the fact that significant dredging had occurred, we made it through with no problems.

There was frequent evidence of hurricane damage as we passed docks and a couple of boats that were heavily damaged and partially sunk.

Also, because we are traveling in a more populated area, we are passing through a greater number of bridges. We are 17 feet high so we can get under many of those that bigger vessels cannot. There are some from which we must request an opening such as this swing bridge. 

By 5:15, we were ready to call it a day and we found a perfect little anchorage on South Harbor Cove in Southport. We passed the night in a lovely, calm and peaceful setting.