To Anchorage in Top Sail Sound

Southport, NC. to Top Sail Sound Anchorage – 4/24/2015

This morning we woke up to very chilly weather in Southport (49 degrees) and that kept us on the boat for a while; dashed were the original plans of going for an early run.

Southport Marina

After the sun came up and we got going.

Southport Waterfront

Morning run  Southport waterfront

 Denise ran and Mark rode the bike all around Southport including their harbor boardwalk that overlooks the ICW. Although it doesn’t have as quaint a downtown as Georgetown (see prior post) there are lots of shops along the main thoroughfare through town.

What was really neat was to see the lovely old homes that have been around since the late 1800’s that people have restored and are actually living in.  These houses are not really big, but they are really beautiful and many are on streets lined with big shady oak trees.

Southport Typical Street

Southport house on Waterfront

The waterfront has a great park and several piers that you can walk out on, which on a clear sunny day like today was spectacular.

Another cool thing about our visit here was that there was a “plein air” event going on, so many artists were about on the waterfront painting today. For those that don’t know, “plein air” is a French expression meaning “in the open air,” and refers to the act of painting outdoors with the artist’s subject in full view.

Southport Waterfront

Plein Air Artists

We left the marina at Southport with the intention of going to Wrightsville Beach for a night at anchor.  However, we were enjoying our spectacular day on the boat and arrived in such a short time, that we pressed on. Instead we found a very cool anchorage in an area known as Top Sail Sound, about 20 miles north of Wrightsville Beach.

Topsail Anchorage looking West

House to the East of Anchorage

We are surrounded by Marsh to our West and a barrier island that is one block from the beach to our East. The island has amazing homes on it with boats in their backyard docks (facing us).  We hear nothing except the birds and slap of the current on the bottom of the boat hull.  It is so peaceful here that Mark actually got in a late afternoon nap.  That was until the helicopters came by – Camp Jejune is just northwest of here.

Military Buzz us – Topsail Anchorage

We have seen the most amazing things along the ICW today: one house that had a life size giraffe statue in the backyard; one with a 5’ swan statue by their flagpole; and one with an Indian Warrior sculpture about 10 feet tall.  We have seen white sandy beaches and barrier islands that come right up to the ICW, and very shallow waters. Perfect fishing areas.

Indian Warrior sculpture – NC ICW

Fisherman on the ICW

We have also seen the most amazing homes along the western short of the ICW. Here are some of the “average” ones:

Mansion on NC ICW

Mansion on NC ICW

In the anchorage were unable to get a good Wi-Fi signal from a neighboring source (we got one off the Marriott Courtyard in Charleston for 3 days) and since we are not in a marina we turned on the AT&T HotSpot to get email, etc. It works pretty well and allows us to really do work from the boat.  Today we truly are an “Island Office”.

Tonight we made fajitas for dinner and watched a gorgeous sunset over an increasing cloudy sky. It is clear the weather is turning, and tomorrow it is supposed to be overcast with storms in the afternoon. Our plan is to be safely tied up to a dock at Morehead City Marina in Morehead City.  We will post again from there in a few days.

Sunset Top Sail Anchorage