Rogue ICW day 15

Today dawned bright and clear with nary a cloud in the sky. The air was a little crisp for mid May, but the sun was warming the morning chill. We got started today around 8:00, pulling out of Lightkeepers Marina and turning the bow northward.  We fell in line with three other boats heading north as well.  We caught up with a fourth boat and at least two sailboats.  It was a busy day on the water.  For the most part, we had plenty of water depth so long as you stayed in the marked channel. As we moved onward, the wind began to build and it felt like at least 20 kts. at times coming from the northeast.  When you have no protection to break the wind it just hits you and stays on you.  There were times when the wind, because of the height of the boat, and what you might call "sail area", actually began to heel over slightly.  It also made steering a little challenging as well.  A little after noon we reached the Cape Fear River.  I was getting hungry, but we needed to sort out where the appropriate markers were to follow and reference the charts.  Well, when we hit the river, the river hit us.  The wind had whipped up four foot swells that fortunately our course would have us traveling directly into.  So we rode the waves like a bucking bronco, with spray flying off the bow.  This went on for about a half hour until we moved farther up river and the swells calmed somewhat.  Still quite choppy and very windy, but more manageable.  We turned up into the next cut off the river and even though the wind continued the water smoothed out considerably.  The channel here is quite narrow, and yet again we threaded our way through, making several turns along the way.  This all went without any issues, for us, but as we came around one turn, a sailboat had wandered just outside the channel and was aground. The waters in the area were pretty calm so he was going to just sit there until the tide came in enough to float him off and he could get back into the channel.  We are in Wrightsville Beach tonight, and my crew is transitioning yet again.  My good friend Rousby has joined the crew and tomorrow George will leave for home. Rousby is planning to stay on with me until we finally make it home.  It seems like a long time ago when I set out to make this trip, I guess it has been after all. My wife is home alone waiting for her man to come home from the sea. She plugs along taking care of things there, maintaining her routine while I gradually bring Rogue north, each day a little closer to her new home.

Statistics for today, 63 miles traveled, 7hrs. 3mins moving, 19 mins. stopped 7hrs. 22mins. total time.
Total distance traveled 1009 miles. (Wow).

Just a few shots from today.

 The shrimp fleet is in today.

 A couple cargo ships being loaded or unloaded on the Cape Fear River.