Sitting up top at the helm of what might be called a yacht, I asked Tyler if people thought we owned this boat. His scoff came a little quickly for my tastes.
“Definitely not.” he replied. I’m not sure what he was saying about us…
This is a 41 foot Carolina Breeze.
This Saturday I served as first mate (if first mates do absolutely nothing helpful) to Tyler who captained a charter from Wrightsville Beach to Bald Head Island. BHI is typically accessed by ferry as there’s no bridge and cars are not allowed on the island. Everyone travels by golf cart or bike. The island is just shy of six square miles so it’s easily managed. Although there are only 250 full time residents it is a busy place when the weather warms up. Even though it is only March the porch of Mojo’s was packed and we passed people everywhere we went.
This was my second trip to Bald Head. The first time we rented a golf cart and just rode around exploring. We stopped at a couple stores and spent some time relaxing on the beach. It was mainly just to see what the fuss was all about. This time we really dove in. We only had about 4 hours while we waited on Tyler’s customers to play a round of golf but we were able to do a lot. First stop lunch! Mojo’s didn’t disappoint. They have a beautiful porch overlooking the marina where we feasted on mahi mahi fish tacos and a philly cheesesteak. The tacos had a citrus slaw and a jalapeno aioli on top of juicy, flavorful fish. Delish!
To work off our meal we brought a tandem kayak and explored the creeks. It was low tide so several times we found ourselves stuck and had to push off back into deeper waters. Tip for next time: check the tides. It was still beautiful surroundings checking out the trees, birds and houses bordering the creeks. Being limited on time we barely even scratched the surface of the areas we could have explored. The desire to kayak BHI was not satisfied in the least.
Bald Head is at the mouth of the Cape Fear which makes for beautiful views but also awesome beach combing. Tyler thinks I’m weirdly obsessed with collecting driftwood but I think it’s a very reasonable hobby. Driftwood is beautiful and if Pinterest tells us anything, reclaimed wood projects are necessary to be a complete person. We walked the beach for quite a while and found many treasures but I only took home two small pieces of wood. What will power! It helped that I was full from what must be the world’s biggest ice cream scoop. Sandpiper Cafe serves ice cream scoops so large you should consider sharing. I don’t say that lightly. Tyler and I both delighted in Old Baldy ice cream which was vanilla with cookie dough AND brownie chunks. Then I felt a little sick but it was worth it.
Bald Head Island is far too expensive to stay overnight but it’s worth the ferry ride to lay on the beaches, kayak the creeks, eat enormous ice creams, and still on my list to do- hang out with sea turtles! Now if only I could keep going back by yacht…
This gives you a glimpse at how shallow the Intracoastal Waterway can be at low tide. These people walked out to the edge of the channel!
Another example of the precarious Intracoastal Wateray (ICW)- a capsized shrimp boat!
The evening view when you’re living large on the yacht.
Seeking Misadventure 