agallant80
Commander
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2010
- Messages
- 2,328
Took the new boat on our first cruise this weekend. Pulled the boat from Raleigh, NC to Oak Island, NC. We put in at Oak Island around 10:30 on Saturday, no issues the ramp is great, was not busy at all and lots of parking. Headed out of the river down to the ICW I was a bit supprised when I saw that the river was only about 7 feet deep but I just went slow because it was unknown water to me.
We headed in to the ICW for a few miles, very pretty view then headed up the Cape Fear river, stayed within the channel markers, it was a bit windy but very nice. We arrived in Wilmington about 1.5 hours after leaving Oak Island, the city dock master was at the dock waiting for us, he helped us tie up took our $32 for power and nightly dock fee, then we were off on our own right downtown Wilmington for St. Patrics day. We had a great time, though we had an appifinay that we were a bit too old to be interested in staying out till last call drinking. We went to Dock Street Oyster Bar for lunch and got the steam pot (always great food there) then walked around for a bit, went back to the boat for a nap then headed out to dinner. There was a classic Irish band playing at dinner, we stayed for a bit had a few beers, then went back to the boat to watch SNL and turn in for the night.
Next morning around 7:30 I got up, got myself and the soon to be wife some coffee and breakfast to bring back to the boat. We lounged on the docks for about two hours, then went for a nice strole through wilminton before having lunch on the river and heading back to Oak Island. Before we headed back we cruised up the river a bit to check it out. I have always wondered what that huge white boat is that has been docked on land for years, we checked it out from a distance, looked at all of the huge boats docked up then went back.
The ride back was nice, it was very calm out, when we got back to Oak Island at the ramp was a Coast Guard officer who asked if he could board for a safety check. I don't know if I could have said no, and I would not have said no the guy is just doing his job and a great public service, so I let him on board to conduct the safety check which took about 30 min. I passed, no issues and I got some decal to put on the window saying something to the effect that I passed a 2013 safety check.
We headed back to Raleigh with the boat in tow. We spend about $210 in gas to just get the boat down there and back nevermind the gas we burned through getting down there. I think we will be leaving the boat in on trailer storage in Carolina Beach area for now on. The coast is more fun than the lakes and we really like it.
Yup I could get used to this cruising thing. I was worried going from a lake boat to a cruiser I would miss the lake but now I remember how I was missing salt water when I was on the lake......
We headed in to the ICW for a few miles, very pretty view then headed up the Cape Fear river, stayed within the channel markers, it was a bit windy but very nice. We arrived in Wilmington about 1.5 hours after leaving Oak Island, the city dock master was at the dock waiting for us, he helped us tie up took our $32 for power and nightly dock fee, then we were off on our own right downtown Wilmington for St. Patrics day. We had a great time, though we had an appifinay that we were a bit too old to be interested in staying out till last call drinking. We went to Dock Street Oyster Bar for lunch and got the steam pot (always great food there) then walked around for a bit, went back to the boat for a nap then headed out to dinner. There was a classic Irish band playing at dinner, we stayed for a bit had a few beers, then went back to the boat to watch SNL and turn in for the night.
Next morning around 7:30 I got up, got myself and the soon to be wife some coffee and breakfast to bring back to the boat. We lounged on the docks for about two hours, then went for a nice strole through wilminton before having lunch on the river and heading back to Oak Island. Before we headed back we cruised up the river a bit to check it out. I have always wondered what that huge white boat is that has been docked on land for years, we checked it out from a distance, looked at all of the huge boats docked up then went back.
The ride back was nice, it was very calm out, when we got back to Oak Island at the ramp was a Coast Guard officer who asked if he could board for a safety check. I don't know if I could have said no, and I would not have said no the guy is just doing his job and a great public service, so I let him on board to conduct the safety check which took about 30 min. I passed, no issues and I got some decal to put on the window saying something to the effect that I passed a 2013 safety check.
We headed back to Raleigh with the boat in tow. We spend about $210 in gas to just get the boat down there and back nevermind the gas we burned through getting down there. I think we will be leaving the boat in on trailer storage in Carolina Beach area for now on. The coast is more fun than the lakes and we really like it.
Yup I could get used to this cruising thing. I was worried going from a lake boat to a cruiser I would miss the lake but now I remember how I was missing salt water when I was on the lake......
