7th July Southport

Had to replace my autopilot steering pump (which had started leaking) as Raymarine do not sell replacement seals! and weld up the starboard side cross-tree bracket. So with everything working again, I paid my marina dues and left Fort Pierce at 8am on Saturday 2^nd into light to moderate winds, which soon built up to a brisk sail, so I took two reefs in on the main, which I shook out again about 6hrs later, as the winds eased. The winds were mainly from the NE to NW with bursts of SE to SW, making our track of NNE a hard one to keep to. 

Avian company for one night

Dolphins foretelling the next storm

On day one we managed an excellent 132n miles in winds from NW to SE force 1-5, day two saw 115nm in winds from NW to SW force 3-6, day three 126nm in winds from NW force 2-5 and day four 44nm in winds from NW to NE force 1-5, the last day was spent forcing my way against wind and swell into Cape Fear even with the engine we were only making 1-3knots! The first buoy on the entrance, about 12nm out, was unlit and thanks to GPS and accurate charts we missed it, as I could not see it, in the dark and rain, until we were close. The rain was on and off for most of the voyage, ending up being on in Cape Fear making it difficult to see the ranges and other shipping (again AIS saved the day) and nearly missed the entrance to the river housing the marina; all in all I think that was the most tiring leg we have done!

Southport Marina

Salt flats around marina

Southport

 Southport seems to be a nice restful backwater, where I hope to spend a few days recuperating, and trying to find out about the Intracoastal north of here.