We're in North Carolina!

We cruised up the ICW in calm but cool weather today, and we're now anchored for the night at Wrightsville Beach, NC. This picture is on the dinghy ride back from town. All of those houses and condos you can see to the right of Nonchalance are actually on the Atlantic beach, or very close to it, since Wrightsville Beach is built on the barrier island and it's only 2 or 3 blocks wide. The town has a very nice free dinghy dock near the stores and beach walk, but it's a rather small beach town and it's not really open for the summer tourist season yet.

Just as we left Myrtle Beach this morning we found that a strange boat that had come in to our marina late last night and was just leaving at 7:15 AM, had just completed an Atlantic crossing as the first ever solar powered boat to cross the Atlantic! The boat is very interesting. I believe it's two 21 ft. narrow hulls made into a catamaran with a large aluminum frame that has a very large roof which is covered with solar cells. I can't imagine how long it took them or what is was like when they got into big waves, which I'm sure they did. It was a very slow moving boat when we saw them, early on a perfectly sunny day.

I don't know where they made landfall in the USA, but their goal is to go from Basel (England?) to New York, and they said they're on their way up to New York now. Maybe like other pioneer sailors, they sailed the Atlantic and the currents and winds brought them to the Southeast coast of the US first. I don't think there has been much of a flap about it yet, so maybe they're planning a media event for their New York City arrival. But you saw ut here first!!

Wrightsville Beach is an actual Atlantic beach town. We walked up to the beach from the ICW dock, which is only 3 blocks across the barrier island to the ocean side beach. It's a very nice beach, but too cool today and they don't allow dogs on the beach after April 1st (just winter dogs I guess), so we didn't walk the beach. However, I did stop to pick up one seashell to add to our collection.

I'm grilling lamb chops on the grill tonight and Kathy is making a rhubarb pie for desert. Yum..... Tomorrow, we're heading north again.