St. James Plantation Marina, Oak Island, North Carolina: October 17, 2020
Marc- Sue and I went for another forest walk this morning. Many young campers were jogging on the trails. We will be back to this place since we only scratched the surface of what the Park has to offer. We left Carolina Beach State Park at 09:30 at what appeared to be high water. The tide was high but the current did not change for at least an hour. No worries since we had 20 knots of wind out of the North to give us a push with our genoa flying. We had no trouble doing 6 knots at the start and this rose to 8 knots and a high of 8.8 knots once the tide current was in our favor on the Cape Fear River. It was a spirited sail even downwind with a three foot average following sea. It got exciting when Sportfishing boats came by at high speed with big wakes. Luckily most slowed down to pass. The water calmed down once we reached the lower end of the Cape Fear River and turned the corner for Southport. This was a shock as our speed dropped to 4 knots in the ICW as the ebb current drains both the Cape Fear River and the ICW. At this point we put out more sail area to compensate and the wind was reliable.
At 13:00 we turned into the man made harbor of the St. James Plantation Marina. This is an extensive resort type development. The low prices were impressive: only $1.25 per foot for dockage at this hurricane hole. Dinner on the Fidler's Green with grilling done by Chef Michael tonight.
I had a surprise encounter with a small green lizard who had moved aboard Lucy III. We just stared at each other for several minutes. I then chased him over half the boat before gently picking him by the tail for transfer ashore in a more green environment.
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