Saturday, 8 November 37.0 SM
Long piers reach out all along the waterway in North Carolina.
He sits sideways in the sun under a porkpie hat, sunglasses, jacket zipped up in the cool morning breeze. Perched on the bench at the end of the pier, he tracks the southward flight of the Snowbirds, sometimes offering a gentle farewell with the wave of a hand. One wonders what stories he could tell about fishing off that pier, building the beachhouse, weekends with the family.
As Rod Stewart might say, every pier tells a story, don’t it. So Steadfast today passes the scene of hundreds if not thousands of stories along the waterway. Her story is simple, Red humming along at 2200 RPM as she pushes us off the pier at Southport at 0630.
The view astern leaving Southport.
There are shoals up ahead, of course—first at Lockwoods Folly (quite a story in itself), later Shallotte Inlet, each demanding a couple of miles of added caution—but they’re cleared with no problems. There are bridges, too, but these newer spans at Holden Beach, Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach are made for sailboats with more than 60’ clearance.
There are stories here, for sure, but somehow, it’s easy to believe “apparel” here might be as the sign says, “Unique.”
Untold stories stand mute in the mud on the west side at Holden. On the piers there, too. Oh, but you’d like to know what that’s all about!
They’re all business under the Holden Beach Bridge.
Just before noon, Steadfast slips across the state line into the State of South Carolina. It sends a welcoming party from the Little River Inlet to greet Sequel, the blue-hulled trawler ahead. An officer from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR!) boards while the patrol boat crew stands off. When done with Sequel, they intercept the southbound cruising sloop astern. But for whatever reason (too small to matter?) Steadfast is ignored and she motors on to the town of Little River for a slip at Lightkeepers Marina (one of the cruising guide’s “50 Frugal Favorites” on the ICW). It’s gonna be chill again tonight, they say, so we plug in.
There’s an errand to be run—shipping a package via UPS—but James the dockmaster says, “No problem. I’ll just giv-ya the keys ta ma cah. Take ya tahm. Don’t nobody else need it today.”
Much appreciated, James. Jake, and Joe and Donna, neighbors down the pier, all come by to say “hi.” It’s a welcoming kind of place, Little River. Steadfast will push on in the morning but this is one spot that deserves a return visit.
Steadfast out.
At Sea with Steadfast 
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