Took a while to get both anchors up, Bob Rudary joined us at the fuel dock around 8:30 for a cold morning run through Carolina Beach and the Snow's cut to Southport.
Bob came well prepared with latest surveys of the ICW for the next stretch. After all, the shallow spots at Carolina Beach didn't pose any problem, we were at high tide, but the bridge clearance was uncertain.
There are no tide boards on the north side of the bridge, we had to call a boat ahead of us to read the tide board from the other side. It said 63 ft and a couple of inches plus some standing waves due to the high current. We know 63ft is enough, we still proceeded at very slow speed against almost 2 knts current.
Another sailbot was anchored just in front of the bridge and waiting for the ebb, it needed 64ft. They called us after we passed the bridge and mentioned we had about a foot clearance left. So we COULD try 62 feet clearance next time.
We made it to Southport at lunch time and docked at the Provision Company, a shack of a restaurant with excellent food. We called it a day, with these strong and cold winds. After lunch, Nancy picked up Bob by car.
