Day 12 To Wilmington

Hi F&F ,
Well this morning we planned a really early start 7am! But it was such a grey day and visibility not so great so ended up leaving nearer 8 am.Today we needed some strategy to get through two low bridges , so we worked out the distance and speed and were able to successful go under them with  a few minutes wait. Along the way we fueled up at a really cheap fuel dock in Swan River ($3.39 per gallon).This makes sense when you are putting in up to 200 gallons at a time at around $4 a gallon for diesel . With speeds  of 23 mph , we average around 30 gallons per hour. Graeme has a special app on his I Pad which lists all the docks  and fuel prices. Of course in the ICW we are going anywhere between 6 and 12 mph.
This stretch of the ICW had lots of fishing activity mainly clam harvesting. The boats had lots of  hungry pelicans surrounding them. They were looking for a good  feed. occasionally the fishermen would throw out some tidbits. At one point we saw a boat with the name Heather R.A.E on the transom and thought of our good friend Heather Rae! Sadly Heather I didn't get my camera ready in time ,but it really did say that! We had a couple of scary points along the way where temporary buoys had been place because of shoaling .One of them had been marked incorrectly and we felt the dreaded shuddering and the boat stopped.By putting the boat into neutral Graeme was able to nudge his way forward into deeper water. It was cloudy most of the way but no rain.Once we entered the Cape Fear River we were in deep water and no speed restrictions , so had a lovely run up to Wilmington. This place has a big port and lots of Coast Guard activity. We tied up just outside the Hilton Hotel along the River Walk in front of the big Coast Guard Ship called Diligence. Lots of young guys and gals are living on board and training up and down the river Also opposite us ,is the famous battleship North Carolina.Saved from demolition , it has its resting place here and is a great tourist attraction. This battleship had over 50 battle engagements, mainly in the Pacific arena during WW2.
The rain started to come down so we holed up inside  and had dinner on board.Will explore the town tomorrow.
Over and out
Erica.