New England – Week: 03 (South & North Carolina)

June 15-21, 2026

Day 13 – Monday, June 15th, 2025 – In: Murrells Inlet, SC

On Monday, we had Michael and Mendy from A&M come to the boat. Like our engines, we needed to have the Northern Lights Generator warranty certified, and there was a small weep from the water pump that was a warranty item. Mendy took care of replacing the water pump while I watched and learned. Brenda ran out to get us breakfast. Breakfast and lunch for Mendy is a tradition on our boat. It’s amazing how much technicians appreciate small kindnesses like breakfast, lunch, or even just offering them cold water on a hot day. A generous tip also goes a long way.

While we were waiting for Michael to arrive, Brenda did a couple of loads of laundry, and I worked on some computer stuff.

We want to order a spare set of props for the boat. We had a spare set for our last boat that came in handy, especially on the Loop, where you are on lots of rivers filled with logs and rocks. Michael customized the specs for the spare set on our last boat, and he came to run a test on the new boat to determine the best pitch and cup settings for the new spare set.

He arrived around 11:00, and we took the boat out into the river and ran it back and forth a couple of times while Michael monitored the engine performance with his laptop connected to the engines. He also took the information for the certification on our Northern Lights generator.

After we got back to the marina and tied up, we took Michael to the marina restaurant for lunch.

In the afternoon, Brenda finished the laundry and worked on her kit, while I did some website maintenance.

Since we had both breakfast and lunch, we were not that hungry, so we went to an old local haunt, “The G.O.A.T Bar & Grill near our old house for a light dinner.

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Day 14 – Tuesday, June 16th, 2026 – In: Murrells Inlet, SC

Today was resupply day. We borrowed the marina courtesy car (Thank You Wacca Wache!) and made a run to the UPS Store to drop off a package, Walmart, a locksmith to have a key made, and Publix for groceries. We have a few stops ahead where there is no “There, There”. Marinas with no restaurants nearby, so we’ll be on our own for dinner.

When we got back to the marina, Brenda put away our groceries, and I decided that it was time to do my first boat washing. Note to self, “If you buy a bigger boat, there is more boat to wash!” It took me about 3 hours to wash just the white part of the boat. The blue wrap is hydrophobic, so all you need to do is blast it with water, and everything just rinses off. That part is easy! While I was washing the boat, Brenda did an internal cleaning, and then treated the windows with Rain-X.

After finishing up the washing, I took care of a couple of other minor boat projects. I rearranged the storage area around the generator to make it easier to get things in and out. Then I climbed down into the rear lazzarette and adjusted our cord winder. When they installed it, we didn’t have the actual cord, so they made a best guess at the pressure setting. It was close, but when you get toward the end of the cord, it starts to slip. So, I removed a couple of the adjustment shims to tighten up the spool that drives the cable in and out. I guessed that one large shim on each of the four adjustment pins would be enough, and I got lucky!

I was tired, and my arms were sore from scrubbing and reaching up, so I called it a day. I went in and got cleaned up. Our old next-door neighbor from when we lived in Murrells Inlet, Frank, reached out. He had seen our blog post about us being in town and came down for a visit! It was great to see him again and catch up on all of the old neighborhood gossip!

After our visit, we went to Outriggers, the restaurant at the marina, for dinner, then called it a night. We planned on leaving early on Wednesday, so that we could get to Holden Beach and have dinner with some other old friends, Robert and Diane.

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Day 15 – Wednesday, Month 17th, 2026 – To: Holden Beach, NC
Holden Beach Town Dock

We had a 60-mile run up to Holden Beach in North Carolina. The first 20 miles are open river, and we were able to run fast to make some time. Once you go past the Socastee Swing Bridge, the river narrows, and both banks are lined with houses, docks, and marinas for most of the rest of the trip, so we had to slow down so as not to damage docks or annoy people!

We made it through “The Rock Pile” in North Myrtle Beach without incident. It was almost high tide, so plenty of water. We passed two slower boats and a work barge just before the Little River Swing Bridge. We thought we were far enough ahead of them to go through the bridge on our own, but the bridge keeper saw the other boats coming behind us, and we had to wait about 15 minutes before the bridge opened. This gave us a chance to use our new Dockmate DPS (Dynamic Positioning System), which keeps the boat in a specific spot while accounting for currents and wind. With the old Frog, it was a challenge! Now, we just push a button, and the technology takes care of it for us! I still keep my finger close to the on/off button and the controls, just in case. I don’t fully trust it yet!

Speaking of not trusting technology… Just after we went through the bridge, I got a vague error message from our autopilot system about communication errors. I pressed “Okay” to acknowledge it. At the time, I was manually steering the boat and avoiding small boat traffic, so I didn’t pay much attention. When we got through the crowded area around the marinas near the bridge, I pressed the “Follow Route” button to reengage the autopilot. The boat immediately went into a tight right-hand turn, right toward shore! I pulled back the throttles and pressed the button to turn off the autopilot. It didn’t turn off! I had no control of the steering. After frantically spinning the wheel, the override safety finally kicked in, and I had control of the boat again. We had another boat behind us, and we radioed them and apologized for the “Crazy Ivan” maneuver. We got the boat back on course, and I tried to figure out what went wrong. I didn’t see anything obvious, so after a few minutes, I tried it again. Same thing: as soon as I engaged the autopilot, the boat made a hard right turn toward shore. I was ready for it this time and quickly regained control.

Brenda noticed that the “Distance to Destination” was increasing rather than decreasing. Then I noticed that the course was 180° out of whack. The autopilot was trying to send us back to where we started! We’ve had this happen with our old boat once or twice when we reset the chartplotter mid-course. I guess when the “communication error” happened, it reversed the course, so when we engaged it, it was trying to turn us around!

I canceled the course, reloaded the route, then selected “Follow Route FORWARD”. I slowed the boat down to idle, and very hesitantly pushed the button. The boat responded correctly! Problem solved. Another new lesson learned!

Brenda had been coordinating with Robert and Diane to arrange a dinner with us in Holden Beach. About 3 miles before we reached Holden Beach Dock, we passed Robert and Diane’s neighborhood. We saw Robert power-walking down their dock to take a picture of us as we passed. We tooted the horn and waved.

Shortly after, we pulled into the Holden Beach Town dock. This is a regular stop for us both on the way North and South. It’s an 80-foot dock. It has power and water. There is only room for one or two boats. With our new boat, we pretty much take up the whole dock.

Robert and Diane arrived around 3:30, and we gave them a tour of the boat and chatted until around 5:30; then they took us to their favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. We met them at the Solar Eclipse boaters meet in 2017 and became friends. We’ve cruised with them and visited with them when they have boated south, or we’ve boated north.

After dinner, they dropped us off at the boat, and we said our goodbyes. Brenda had some mail to send, so we walked around the town hall next to the dock to see if we could find a mailbox. No luck, so we walked down the street to an ice cream stand for dessert, and on the way back to the boat, noticed a group mailbox for a condo development with an outgoing mail slot. Another issue resolved!

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Day 16 – Thursday, June 18th, 2026 – To: Southport, NC
Morningstar Southport Marina

Originally, we had planned to go to Harbor Village Marina in Hampstead, NC. This involved going up the Cape Fear River. Under good conditions, the Cape Fear can be rough with tidal current. In windy conditions, it gets really rough. The winds this morning were blowing over 20 mph and were predicted to increase to over 35 by noon. The marina in Hampstead texted us saying that they had already had a cancellation. I checked, and the winds tomorrow are predicted to be even worse, with steady 30 mph and higher gusts.

There is a town right at the entrance to the Cape Fear River, Southport, just 13 miles from Holden Beach, that we’ve stayed at a couple of times. It’s a great stop with a nice downtown, and the home of Robert and Kay Creech, who hold “Porch Tails” on their front porch overlooking the ICW every evening. The Creech’s are long-time Loopers and Harbor Hosts in Southport. So, we called the marina and got a reservation for the next two days, and reshuffled our reservations for the next few days.

If we are going to be stuck somewhere for a few days, Southport is a good spot, as Hampstead is just the marina and nothing else nearby, and where we were last night in Holden Beach is a bit bumpy from the boat traffic going by, and aside from a couple of restaurants and an ice cream stand, there’s not much here.

Because we only had 13 miles to go, we waited until 10:30 to leave. While we were waiting, we had a barge and tug come past, and a few minutes later, another large tug.

It was only 15 miles to Southport. We took our time and got there just before 12:30. After we settled in, we decided to walk around the bay to the restaurants along the waterfront for a cold drink and a snack. It was 88° with a feels-like of 99°! On our way around the bay, we passed the Creech’s house, and Robert was sitting on his front porch. We asked for permission to come aboard, and visited with him for a bit. He mentioned that Andrew, our salesman, was by with his Outback a few weeks ago. We invited him to stop by on his daily dock-walk and see the boat.

We continued to the restaurant area and stopped at The Frying Pan (Named for the Frying Pan Shoal Lightship), which has an air-conditioned bar overlooking the entrance to the Cape Fear River, where we could watch all the boats fighting the waves and be happy that we were safely tied up. After our snack, we took a walk along the beach at the junction of the ICW and the Cape Fear River looking for some interesting shells. Most of them are oyster shells, and people have picked up shells with holes in them and decorated the trees lining the beach. Very pretty!

Then we went back to the boat, and just after we got back, Robert Creech stopped by for a visit and a tour of the boat.

For dinner we had leftovers, and called it an early night.

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Day 17 – Friday, June 19th, 2026 – In: Southport, NC

Friday confirmed that we made the right choice by staying put. First, we had the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur come through on Friday, and it would have followed us all day. Also, the winds were at 27 to 35 mph all day, not comfortable boating weather.

We spent the morning on the boat. We had rain from around 9 to noon, heavy at times. I worked on the blog and an article for Lakeland Magazine, while Brenda worked on her diamond art kit. At around 10:00, the rain and wind hit. It was a gale with strong gusty winds, torrential rain, and lots of lightning. Shortly after, the entire town of Beaufort lost power. Fortunately, we have our own on-board backups. We ran on our Inverter for the first time since getting the boat. After a few hours of running, the system said we still had 1 day and 9 hours of battery remaining. Plus, we still have the generator!

The rain stopped around 12:30, and the winds died down a bit. We had planned to walk into town and browse around the shops, but without power, everything was closed. At 3:00 the power finally came back on, so we walked into town. Everyone seemed to have been waiting for the power to come back as downtown was packed with people. We walked around a few shops. Most had waited for the power to come back on and extended their hours to take advantage of the crowds.

We walked to restaurant row, and all of the major restaurants had reopened after the power failure. We were joking with the owner of The Frying Pan, where we had dinner, and he said his bank called and made him open!

After dinner we stopped at the Creech’s again on the way back to the boat and sat and chatted with them on the porch. While we were there, several other Loopers joined us! Steve and Annie from Over Yonder, the crew of Gracie May (a Beneteau Swift Trawler like our old boat), and Jeff from Big Wave. We chatted until around 6:30, and then we headed back to the boat as we had a long day planned for Saturday.

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Day 18 – Saturday, June 20th, 2026 – To: Beaufort, NC
Homer Smith’s Docks

We had a day to make up on Saturday due to the weather of the past two days. This was our longest day of the trip at just over 108 miles. As we’ve said, we try to avoid traveling on the weekends due to the small boat traffic. We should have taken our own advice! Without exaggeration, we probably passed over 3,000 boats over the course of the day. Lots of them were on the many sandbars and beaches we passed. At times there was a steady stream of boats either coming toward us or going around us. It was chaos!

Dealing with lots of small boats, shallow areas, and bridges is stressful. Especially with a 100-mile-plus day. There are three lift bridges on this part of the route: Wrightsville Beach, Figure 8 Island, and Onslow Beach Bridge in Camp Lejeune. The first two are about 18 feet when closed, so we dropped our mast to avoid waiting for them. Camp Lejeune is only 16 feet. We got lucky as we arrived just at a scheduled opening time, so we didn’t have to wait.

We try to be courteous boaters, slowing when passing small boats, kayaks, and paddleboarders. But after 7 hours of being the “Nice Guy”, you get a bit tired of it, especially when other boats are blasting past you! Toward the end of the day, when we were trying to make it to the marina before it closed, we just said, “heck with it,” and let them deal with our wake. “What goes around, comes around!”

We made it to Southport just before the marina closed, and got into our slip. The last time we stayed at Homer Smith’s on our Triangle Loop trip, they were just building a Margaritaville hotel and restaurant next door. The hotel and restaurant have opened, so we went to “5 o’clock Somewhere” for dinner.

After dinner, I went to bed early after a long, tiring day (and a few libations). Brenda stayed up and was treated to a fantastic sunset behind the bridge in Beaufort.

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Day 19 – Sunday, June 21st, 2026 – To: Belhaven, NC
Belhaven Marina

Sunday we traveled to Belhaven, North Carolina. This is a favorite stop of ours. It’s a great little marina, well managed with friendly staff, and it’s the home of the Spoon River Restaurant. Belhaven is well off the beaten path. Downtown has the marina, a large hardware store, a dodgy steak/dive bar restaurant, a couple of coffee and ice cream shops, and Spoon River. Spoon River is a gourmet, 5-star restaurant. People drive from as far as New Bern and Norfolk to eat there. The food is amazing! We try to stop whenever we pass through.

Our trip from Beaufort to Belhaven was great! We crossed two rivers, the Neuse and the Pamlico, which can get choppy in the wind, but today was just smooth sailing! Also, perhaps because it was Father’s Day, the small boat traffic was minimal. There were a few cruisers that we passed along the way, and the River Pilot, a barge that must have been pushing a heavy load, as it was only doing 3.5 MPH! We are in “Leap Frog” mode as we keep passing the same boats. We pass them, then stay a day or two somewhere, and they pass us, then we catch back up with them again.

As we went through the Pamlico River cut, we went by R.E. Mayo Seafood. There are many closed seafood docks along the route, but R.E. Mayo still seems to be going strong! And next door is the Hobucken Coast Guard station, where they were building target-practice boats. As we were transiting this section, Bethanny called to wish me a happy Father’s Day. I walked her through connecting to our onboard camera system so she can watch as we cruise along.

We made the 60-mile trip in just over five hours. After docking, we washed two days of salt spray off the boat. The dockmaster told us that there were three new businesses in town. Spoon River is attracting people to a town that would otherwise be a true backwater! There was a new brewery, a butcher shop, and a local farmers’ market store. We walked into town to check out the new businesses, but unfortunately, since it was Sunday and Father’s Day, they were all closed by 3:00. I did get to sample a beer from the brewery. The owner had just locked the doors and saw us outside, so he invited us in for a “free Father’s Day IPA!” It was very tasty. Unfortunately, they are closed on Monday and Tuesday, so I won’t get to sample the rest of their offerings. We’ll just have to stop on our way back.

We have reservations at Spoon River for tomorrow, so we had dinner at The Tavern at Jack’s Neck, the OTHER restaurant in town. They had a Father’s Day steak special that was pretty good. When we got back to the boat, we chatted with Burn on Sea Star and played with his dog Tootsie for a bit while we watched the sunset.

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Weekly Recap

This week was all about catching up with old friends in South and North Carolina. After a visit to our old home port, Murrells Inlet, we made stops in Holden Beach and an unplanned stop in Southport due to weather. It was great to catch up with our friend Michael, the team at Wacca Wache, Frank, our old neighbor, Robert & Diane, our cruising buddies, and to have Porchtails with the Creech’s!

Next week we make our way to Virginia, pass through Norfolk, and make a stop in Hampton before heading into the Chesapeake Bay!