Even Better the Second Time Around

Nothing to Fear on the Cape

New Discoveries in Familiar Places

Taking off from Barefoot Landing we started our day still within the Rock Pile. We passed a few south-bound boats, but nothing too big to to get us worrying. The waterway soon opened up to show us glimpses of the ocean as well as the survivors of the last hurricane season.

We reached the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge a few minutes late but the tender was kind enough to open for us anyway. We're never sure what to expect at the bridges, especially with our carelessness with timing. (No, no! You must hurry! Quick, quick quick! -Ed.)

We spent the morning driving inside to stay out of the cold. Especially with Tim's new haircut which offers little warmth. We made good time and pulled into Southport after topping off the diesel tanks. We cruised into the old Southport basin knowing it would be a little hard to find the one free spot on the City Pier. It took us awhile to locate it, but after we saw the transient boater sign we were able to nuzzle up pretty easily to the tiny dock. This allowed us to leave Slowly and explore downtown Southport a bit. Southport is another little waterfront fishing town that has been transformed by tourism for better and for worse. Hannah found a giant rosemary bush and and thereafter smelled quite good. Not unlike Savannah, GA, Southport has some beautiful mature live oaks intermingled with modest houses giving it a romantic feeling.

We have been enjoying checking out new anchorages and places to land during this second voyage of ours. The sites are familiar which helps give us confidence when trying to find a space that's hard to see. We've got a general lay of the land now. But taking advantage of all the many places there are to spend an evening and night aboard is one of the best parts of cruising.

Circling back towards the boat, we enjoyed another great show from the setting sun and headed to the Fishy Fishy cafe for a snack and drink. We could even see Slowly out in the darkness through the window behind the bar. We enjoyed the small town of Southport. The downtown is a bit hard to separate from others with the usual antique shops and recreational shopping facilities, but the trees are excellent and they had nice holiday lights. We give it three and half propellers.