Note – For those looking at our position on the AIS tracking map on the home page, we appear to be right in the middle of a river. That’s because we almost are! We are tied up on this marina’s “face” dock which runs parallel to the river and is only 60 yards off to the side of the ICW.

We stayed here in Southport today while a cold front passed through the area. This was the first morning that we awoke with the cabin truly chilly. The marina staff stated that some of the sailboats who headed south early in the morning decided to turn around and come back due to unpleasant conditions on the ICW. The winds were up and it was much cooler, and with a much better wind and temperature forecast for the next three days, we decided to spend this less than ideal sailing day exploring Southport. Paula started the crockpot up with pork ribs and sauerkraut, since we were secure at dockside, and cooked a mess of kale and bacon to provide meals for the next legs of our trip, and then we prepared to go to town.

Neither of us had ever even heard of Southport before this trip and weren’t sure what to expect. We took a taxi into the town (~7 miles from our marina) and were immediately impressed. Southport is a beautiful seaside town steeped in a lot of history. It was vibrant with lots of shops, restaurants, historic homes, and a couple museums.

We got there right around noon and despite the cool breeze the bright sun made strolling around very pleasant. The Cape Fear River is a big part of Southport’s heritage and is seen in the featured picture for this post behind Tom. We ate lunch at a very cool place called “The Fishy Fishy Cafe” right on the waterfront. They welcomed dogs, and there were many right in the restaurant. They have award winning New England style clam chowder, and a killer Mahi Mahi grilled sandwich. The numerous grackles (large black iridescent birds) that we saw all over town were kept from bothering the outdoor patrons by the strategic placement of bowls of birdfeed just outside the restaurant’s deck railings.

Next we walked to the Southport Maritime Museum which was as good or better than each of the maritime museums we’ve visited so far on this trip. They had impressive documentation of the damage previous hurricanes had inflicted on the area throughout the decades and lots of artifacts and information about the blockade runners based here during the Civil War. The Southport Visitor’s Center also had a small museum inside chronicling more of the personal history of the town and its people. We then walked around town for a while before getting a taxi back to the marina (no Uber service here).

We had a nice dinner on the boat-a precooked meal of penne pasta with sausage and vegetables- as the wind finally was dying down and we took a nice walk around the docks. There were lots of interesting and sizeable boats, including a massive fishing boat named “Fear the Spear” complete with transom painting of scuba-clad spear fisherman and fleeing fish. The sunset over the New Oak Island Bridge was a fine sight. We plan to leave a little later than usual in the morning, around 8:30 am, so the tides and currents will aid, not impede us, at a couple of trouble spots we’ve identified on tomorrow’s route. It should be quite nippy in the morning, around 45 degrees, so we plan to layer up. Paula likes to sleep with tomorrow’s clothes under the pillow when it’s going to be cold, so she can dress in her pre-warmed layers of clothing under the covers before facing the chill cabin. Or we can turn the cabin heater on if it really gets cold.