May 20th- Southport to Carolina Beach NC

The day before leaving Southport we had some discussions about the river currents, when to leave, and how to safely get off the dock. We were parked way down on the inside of a face dock and would have to wait for the correct tide to leave. That really didn’t work with our travel plan. Autumn Bourne came up with a plan to flip our boat, at the dock, so we were pointed in the right direction to escape the next morning. With help from the marina staff and the river current we pointed Evergreen in the right direction for an early morning departure.

We left Southport and caught the flood tide up the Cape Fear river. Shortly after we arrived at our destination, Carolina Beach (CB). We could have pushed on further but we enjoy visiting CB and planned on staying an extra day. Autumn Bourne was also going to linger for an extra day at Wrightsville Beach which is near by.

We made multiple visits to the North End Cafe for coffee, egg sandwiches, and other goodies. Of course we couldn’t leave without a stop at Blackburn Brothers Seafood. We had some delicious Halibut for dinner that night.

Evergreen moored in Carolina Beach.

May 22- Carolina Beach to Mile Hammock Bay/ Camp Lejeune NC

Today turned out to be a complicated day. We had multiple possible destinations for the day. We then received a message that SV Rhiannon was having an electrical problem and had lost all power in their boat. They had traveled a day ahead of us and were in Mile Hammock Bay which is part of the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. Autumn Bourne has a generator and would be able to provide power when they got there. We decided to also go for support. The only problem with the plan was the base doesn’t allow civilians to land and we need to get Ollie to shore. The captain of Autumn Bourne ( a Vietnam War veteran) informed me that the Marines are not going to care about an American with a dog landing at their base regardless of regulations. With that encouragement we anchored at Mile Hammock Bay.

May 23- Mile Hammock Bay/ Camp Lejeune NC

An extra day at the Marine Base. Rhiannon and Autumn Bourne are rafted up and Rhiannon is charged up. They need parts and need to wait for a day before transiting to Beaufort NC for repairs. We’re also here for an extra day. It’s looking like our northward progress is going to be stopped by weather anyway so waiting here an extra day isn’t a problem. In the morning we got to watch some amphibious assault training. We were informed earlier that the troops would be firing blanks. This was a great relief when machine gun fire erupted during the assault. The whole thing was exciting and very interesting to watch. Ollie has been to shore. Not during assault training!

Giant boat ramp for Marine training.

Rhiannon with Autumn Bourne providing electrical assistance.