Cape Fear River

by Nancy

Traveled 38 miles today on the ICW, with sunny skies and no wind to speak of, it was pretty much a carefree cruising day. The shores of ICW in NC are lined with many beautiful homes each one with its own long dock to the water. The waterway had some shallow spots (shoaling) at the inlets of the Atlantic that we navigated at low tide but nothing that was a problem and we arrived and docked at Southport Marina in Southport, NC.

If you’ve seen any of these movies, Safe Haven, Nights in Rodanthe; The Secret Life of Bees, A Walk to Remember, or Crimes of the Heart, you got a good snapshot of Southport, NC. This quaint community is located right at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The tree-lined streets and Victorian homes make Southport one of the finest filming locations.

We experienced the southern hospitality not long after we pulled into the marina with a knock on our boat, from Robert, the official AGLCA Harbor Host for the area invited us to his porch for docktales. Robert lives right on the waterfront, his boat sits across the street in front of his house and his porch hosts Loopers every night of the week.

Our friend, Justin showed up again, bearing gifts of beer, how did he know our inventory was low. He brought his niece, Emily, who he has been home-schooling, on a field trip that day after having traveled several hours to see us again. He picked our brains about the Loop and we all enjoyed lunch at Fishy-Fishy restaurant right on the waterfront.

Friends and owners of Tricia Ann will be completing the Loop at the next stop, Wilmington, NC. So we took the dinghy over to their marina and had a wonderful Italian dinner to celebrate their completion.

A couple of the Historic homes along West Ave date back to 1890’s-1910. They were owned by moderate-income owners back then and are still privately owned today.
Docktales on Robert and Kay’s porch. They have been the AGLCA Harbor Hosts of the year several times and Robert is a presenter at the Fall AGLCA Rendezvous.
Justin and Emily learning more about the Loop on the bridge of Flying Colors.
Lunch at Fishy Fishy, a Southport Fish shack favorite. Looked very much like Ivan’s in the movie Safe Harbor, where Julianne Hough worked but my research didn’t uncover that
These two will be flying their Gold Looper Burgee at their next stop on their Riviera, indicating they completed the Loop. This wasn’t Good-Bye, however, as they are bringing their boat home to Beaver Island on Lake Michigan. So who knows, we may see them again. Congrats Tim and Tricia!

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