DAY 15

I think we should have stayed in bed today! But, we are at Cape Fear and now 
it is just a run up the Cape Fear River to Wilmington, NC, and the end of 
our LONG journey!

We did like the Osprey Marina but an early start was again on our agenda. It 
was raining when we woke but at least it was light and there wasn't any 
wind. That didn't last long! The first part of our last full day on the ICW 
took us through "the rock pile"! This is about 20 miles of a narrow channel 
with stones and rock extending from the banks in several places. We were 
warned to stay in the middle of the channel and to turn and run if a tug and 
barge was going to pass us in either direction. The stone and rock is a 
product of cutting the channel and the almost constant construction around 
Myrtle Beach, the tourist center of South Carolina. Because of the weather 
we didn't see much other traffic but we did see one tug and Barge after we 
had passed through "the rock pile". Thankfully it was in a section of the 
ICW that was wide enough for a safe pass.

The real story today was the weather. The rain never stopped  but it did get 
stronger! The wind also increased with gusts at 35 to 40. The wind stayed 
below 25 kts. until we entered North Carolina. Our last state welcomed us 
with winds of 30 to 35 kts. with gusts. The winds didn't stay that strong 
but they came and went for the last 5 hours of our trip of 56 nautical miles 
for the day. In fact, we had to dock in limited space with the wind on our 
beam gusting over 30....we were lucky, no problems! Another day we were glad 
not to be offshore! The visibility all day was a problem. The constant rain 
forced constant concentration. Thankfully, with the exception of "the rock 
pile", the channel was wide, deep and easy to follow. We did manage to stay 
dry in our plastic and canvas "bubble", but it was cold.

We also passed under or through about 15 bridges today. We did have adequate 
clearance on all the fixed bridges and while the draw, swing or pontoon 
bridges are more of a hassle, they don't get my adrenalin flowing because of 
our 65 ft. mast. Once North of Florida we were averaging only a few bridges 
a day, so today was a surprise. Now we only have two more bridges to pass, 
one fixed and one draw bridge. The Cape Fear Marina is 25 miles up the Cape 
Fear River. Then a rest for Boundless and her crew.