carolina beach state park marina.

that last night at the topsail sound anchorage was a tonic.  the night was black. the stars were out. no city lights. no city noise like cars going over bridges.  we heard gentle splashings outside of the boat (dolphins) and the roar of the ocean surf in the distance.  it was wonderful!  reminded us of why we do this.  the thing with the SAIL rally is just regimented and packed with activities and it is go, go go!  and when you get to where you're going, it's clean, clean, clean!  hahaha...  no, this time it was quiet and peaceful and... nice :) 

we left in the morning for the carolina beach state park marina and met up with mark and diana doyle.  it was a short run to a really nice marina .  it was a small place, inexpensive, but with everything a cruiser needs plus the added advantage of being a state park with hiking trails and such.  it boasted venus flytraps growing in the wild and so tom, consuelo and i set off to find them.  unfortunately, we had absolutely no luck :(  i guess it's the wrong time of year.  the office staff said they were there and even gave some vague instructions on where to find them.  trust me, we looked and looked.  and both tom and i know what the plants look like.  short of crawling on the forest floor but no, we did not find them.  that was kind of disappointing.  on the other hand, we spent all afternoon walking around so we got some exercise.

a little cape dory arrived at the marina from the mile hammock anchorage today.  the owners stepped out and kissed the ground haha!  later, they came knocking on our door and told me that they wanted to thank me and that they had all my books.  huh?  i pointed at the doyles' boat and said ,"them, not us!"   and an acquaintance from the LIVE ABOARD BOATS facebook group actually drove from wilmington to meet tom!   i guess it was THAT kind of a day.  anyway, he stayed for dinner and i learned a new term that i thought was perfect for the appropriate people: "jackass whisperer."  :)

consuelo got a bath today after all that rummaging around in the woods.  i bet if she knew what we were looking for, she'd have found the darn plants right away!  it's been a pretty good last two days - relaxing.  well, except for work, of course.  necessary evil.

heron conference along the ICW

root "braid"

carolina beach state park marina at the junction of snows cut channel and the cape fear river - wonderful little marina!