Tropical Storm Irene could be a problem. But our
immediate concern is a rash of waterspouts and tornados in the Carolina
Beach area. They are popping up everywhere. The weather patterns are
not particularly violent nor is the air all that unstable. But here they
are. This picture is courtesy of Gene Stark, a resident at Mona Black
marina. Most of the marina is preparing for Irene as are we.
Hurricane Irene is threatening!
It looks like she may make landfall with 30 to 80 miles from our location.
NOAA has posted a Hurricane Warning so we must move to a safer place.
Bennett Brothers is considered a Safe Harbor so we headed up the Cape
Fear River. While we going North, several cargo ships were heading South in
response to the Port Authority's directive that all ships vacate the
port. We wondered
where they would go.
Several years ago, the ports of Wilmington and Moorehead
City got new container
cranes. They are big and blue and made in China. Go figure. It was
quite a story when they arrived.
They were so big that they caused some damage to the local waterfront as
they were shipped into the port.
As we passed the port, we could see a few ships tied up. They would be
gone within a matter of hours.
After passing by the port, we passed under
the Memorial Bridge heralding the beginning of the historical district.
There is much to see here. We usually
see the town from the roads or sidewalks. Now we see it from the
water. Very nice! This is the first time
Jule has been this far up the Cape Fear. Not bad.
Entering Bennett Brothers can be difficult. You have to
pass under a bridge that opens at
1000 and 1400 and you enter the slips only at slack water. That was the
plan. Four boats including Jule
were patiently waiting at the south side of the Elizabeth Holmes bascule
bridge. Sure enough at 1400 the
bridge opens and also at 1400 the current goes slack. So into the slip
we go without a bang or a bump.
Our new home is between two bridges, the Holmes
bridge and a single span bascule railroad bridge. The traffic on the River
provided us bit of entertainment and
some pretty good wakes. On the other side of the railbridge are more
docks for ocean going ships. It gets
interesting when they leave as they have to be pulled through both
bridges, stern first. Not much room here
so it gets exciting!
;
