Back to Wilmington, Kiki Crosses the Rainbow Bridge and then Onward to New Bern – Great Loop Cruising

We left Wilmington after a delightful month full of new friends, great food, entertainment and just immersing ourselves in an enchanting city.

But we left with a little bit of concern for Kiki and her starting to not finish her meals – a fairly normal sometimes behavior.

After cruising back down the Cape Fear River, we turned left through Snows Cut, and took a mooring ball in Carolina Beach.

We tried to enjoy our time there, but our concern was growing as Kiki was showing more concerning symptoms. In the morning, we decided getting her to a Banfield vet clinic was prudent, so we booked their first available appointment in Wilmington.

We originally thought we’d anchor in Wrightsville Beach and catch a ride share to the vet. It’d be even closer than where we were docked in Wilmington.

But the impeller in the generator shredding (making running the AC on a hot day difficult) and the weather forecast shifting to non-stop rain the next day conspired to having us turn around and return to Port City Marina back in Wilmington.

So our first attempt at leaving Wilmington was a 56.4nm roundtrip to Wrightsville Beach and back, just 36 hours later.

Here’s the video version of this segment of our journey:

Stop 1: Port City Marina – Wilmington, NC Take 2

We made the 4 hour journey back to Wilmington, arriving at sunset – to the embrace of friends we had made.

The vehicle we had borrowed previously was happily re-delivered by our YouTube-follower-turned-friend the next morning so we could get Kiki to her appointment.

The rest of the Kiki story, we already covered in our tribute to our Admiral – so I’ll spare myself the tears of re-living that again.

After Kiki passed, we knew we wouldn’t be ready to leave immediately – and would just take things as they felt right.

The marina assured us we were good to stay as long as we wished, and they graciously kept us on a pro-rated monthly rate with the utmost of flexibility.

We enjoyed what we could of Wilmington further – dining out, quality time with friends we had made, catching a few shows, ample live music, celebrating my birthday and fixing a cracked tooth. All (yes, even the tooth) was a good distraction from the emotional rollercoaster we were on.

We also entertained Tropical Storm Debby on board, which was thankfully just a few days of annoying non-stop rain.

We took it a week at a time, and each week tears would have us delay our departure. Until August 20th, it finally felt right to toss the lines and leave Wilmington in our wake.

Stop 2: Carolina Beach Mooring Field – Carolina Beach, NC

Our first stop after Wilmington was returning to Carolina Beach and taking a mooring ball for a couple of nights, after a 17.3nm backtrack to the ICW.

It’s a wonderful well maintained mooring field ($30/night) – very calm and protected.

There are two dinghy docks to get ashore at different locations. Carolina Beach itself is pretty touristy with a  beach town vibe. But we got a run in, strolled through the overpriced quasi-permanent carnival and checked out a couple local restaruants.

The highlight for our visit was finally rendezvousing with Gaylen & Allison of the Sail Bums. This duo of sailors travel around and are trop rock musical performers who book up gigs in a spot for a bit, and then move on to their next.

We had a very fun couple of nights hanging out after a couple of years of cyberstalking each other.

Stop 3: Wrightsville Beach Anchorage – Wrightsville Beach, NC

We had a lovely short 12.8nm cruise from Carolina Beach to Wrightsville Beach – which is technically just about a 15-20 minute drive due east of where we were docked in Wilmington. But about 4 hours of cruising time due to having to navigate back down the Cape Fear River.

We had also dropped the hook here on our first attempt at departure, before backtracking.

So it was fun to actually get ashore in Wrightsville Beach and explore around this cute beach town. There’s a very easily accessible public dinghy dock right in the anchorage making shore access a breeze.

We enjoyed dinner with a local friend at Baja Tower 7 and a stroll on the beach at sunset.

And the weather had turned absolutely delightful – ‘fake fall’ as the locals call it.

We lifted the anchor in the morning for a long cruising day to our next stop.

Stop 4: Spoils Anchorage – Swansboro, NC

After a long 51nm but smooth cruising day from Wrightsville Beach to Swansboro (nearly 8 hrs!) – including passing through an active firing range of Camp Lejuene – we dropped the hook in the spoils. About a 1/2 mile from the Swansboro public dinghy dock.

We made our way ashore to check out this cute little coastal town, and were immediately met by long time follower Jamie – who we had been corresponding with about possibly meeting up.

That led to a spontaneous night full of stories and laughter over dinner, and then an invite to a home cooked gourmet feast at his place the next night with his companion Colleen.

Dinner was accompanied by amazing gluten free apps and desert by The Friendly Market (where Jamie is a baker in his semi-retirement from photojournalism).

Swansboro itself is a quaint and darling small historic town, that is working on having a more vibrant nightlife. We did thoroughly enjoy the stop.

We get to visit some incredible places in our travels. But really, they are merely backdrops for experiences and time with amazing people.

Stop 5: Town Anchorage – Beaufort, NC

Another 25nm up the ICW from Swansboro, we dropped the hook in downtown Beaufort, NC (not to be confused with Beaufort, SC also along the ICW, which is pronounced differently).

This anchorage in the transition seasons can be jam packed, but there were only 3 boats during our stay.

And it’s simply lovely with a quaint town view, wafting live music at night, wild horses on the shore of Carrot Island behind us and easy free town dock access for exploring.

We toured the free maritime ship building museum to check out the remains of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, dined at a couple of restaurants and got in a sunrise run.

But with ‘false fall’ seemingly coming to an end – we opted for only one night before moving on towards our next stop, which would have power for non-stop AC again.

Stop 6: Adam’s Creek Anchorage – (still technically) Beaufort, NC

The places we drop the hook are usually pretty freaking amazing as seen from the boat.

But once Chris’ drone photos sync to my photo album – that’s when I really appreciate the beauty and scope of where we have been.

We left Beaufort, NC and decided to cut 15.1 miles off our cruise into New Bern by positioning ourselves near the mouth of the Neuse River.

This little anchorage on Cedar Creek was perfect for an early morning sunrise departure, hoping for the calmest potential waters of this notorious section of the ICW for sporty conditions.

Stop 7: New Bern Grand Marina – New Bern, NC

We decided to make the side trip up the Neuse River to New Bern, NC for the Labor Day holiday weekend – we much prefer being tucked in somewhere for long recreational boating centric weekends.

With a sweet weekly rate at New Bern Grand Marina right downtown ($4.75/ft with club discounts!) – we were looking forward to checking out this town.

Our 25.5nm trip up the Neuse River was timed well for lovely calm conditions.

We actually stopped in New Bern back in 2016 and attended our first MTOA Rendezvous while we were boat shopping. The town has always had charm for us and been on our list to return to in our own boat.

So take a one-week reservation, two easily distractable nomads and a notorious boater velcro town – we were afraid we might get sucked in here too.

But alas, for all its historic charm and abundance of bears (bears everywhere!), we were able to pull ourselves away.

Even a Thai, Indian and Sushi restaurant in walking distance weren’t velcro enough for us. We did a trolley tour and attended a play at the civic theater. But mostly we just enjoyed unlimited AC, runs, bike rides, walking tours and hiding out from holiday madness.

New Bern is definitely worth a stop and side trip… and we’re glad we came here. But new adventures call us!

Real Time Update

We ended up extending our stay in New Bern by a day to wait out some winds for a calmer passage back down the Neuse River.

With our prolonged summer stay in Wilmington, we’re pretty much setting our expectations that we’ll only get to the southern Chesapeake this cruising season before it’s time to find storage for the winter and return to RV life.

So we’re embracing checking out more quaint towns and side trips – enjoying a slow pace of travel. Until we have our next update… take care!