Lost and Found

Last night we anchored in "Tina's Pocket" just north of Southport in NC on the Cape Fear river. Not a particularly well protected anchorage but the winds were calm and the forecast good so felt comfortable.  We dropped the dinghy down and took Abby for a walk on a small nearby island. There were tons of birds and Abby thought it would be fun to find a couple of dead birds and carry them around like a stick.  YUCK!  i the rest of her walk she was on the leash and then Debbie found a sign saying no trespassing bird sanctuary so we left there and went back to the boat.  Sunset cocktails and dinner aboard.  We have been watching a series called Outlander and watched another episode tonight before turning in around 10;00. At 5 AM we were awakened due to severe rocking of the boat probably due a passing barge, ship or ferry.  When we got up around 7 AM we were surprised to find that our dingy, we had tied to the transom the night before was no longer there!! A small panic set in as what to do now?  No dinghy for the loop would be very limiting and if someone did find it and we were miles north of here how would we get it back?? After a few choice words, Jim contacted the Coast Guard and the local Sheriff to let them know we lost a dingy in case anyone reported it.
We hauled anchor at 8 am and headed back down river as that was the direction the tide was flowing in the middle of the night, and low and behold we sighted our dingy on the far shore not three miles from where we were anchored.  The problem was, short of swimming, how could we get to the beach? We saw a fishing boat nearby and enlisted their help.  Jim boarded the fishing boat and they took him to shore to retrieve the dingy. Jim just had to watch out for the numerous jellyfish on the shore.  The dinghy was fine and started right up.  We returned it to the top of the boat and will do a better job of tying the painter to the dinghy next time! All's well that ends well!!


We cruised up the Cape Fear river where we saw lots of barges.

We cruised through downtown Wilmington and docked at the Cape Fear Marina.

The Port of Wilmington is a busy place

Bennett Brothers Yachts/Marina are running a special for loopers.  Up to one week of free dockage for no charge except for $12.50 a day for power.  Nice deal and we will stay here for two days catching up on sewing projects and tuning up the bikes.  Abby was happy to see land and did her business, which she had been holding out on for two days.