At 1:30 we brought our lines back onboard and the current gently moved us away from the dock and into the Ashley River. We had an excellent view of the grand historic homes, church spires, and Ravenel Bridge from the channel as we headed back to the Atlantic. Just beyond Fort Sumter, hundreds of odd balls suddenly appeared in the water. At first they looked like hamburgers -- a light color on both sides of a dark middle strip. Upon closer inspection I knew they were jellyfish. The cannonball jelly does not have tentacles and are also known as jellyballs. Interesting things pop up when you least expect them.
It was a beautiful afternoon on the ocean with sunshine, blue sky, a light breeze, and low rollers. Day transitioned to night -- the darkness lessened by a bright moon and a sky full of stars -- then cycled back to day. We made good time and actually had to slow down. Our destination marina asked that we not arrive before 11:00. Many fishing vessels were out early in the day making our approach to the Cape Fear River and Bald Head Island a busy one. The Oak Island Lighthouse greeted us from the western shore of river's inlet.
Old Baldy stood guard over the eastern shore. A narrow channel led us directly into the Bald Head Island Marina basin. It was an easy and enjoyable trip. After a quick shower and a bite of lunch, we rented a golf cart (the only mode of transportation on the island) and went exploring along the tree-lined paved paths. Our fist stop was the Turtle Conservancy which was a little slow on a Saturday afternoon. The largest collection of turtles were of the plush variety in the children's area. A young staffer showed us around a few tanks and explained that turtle hatching season is just beginning. Each morning folks walk the beach and look for fresh nests. Once located a metal cage is placed over the nest to protect the eggs from predators looking for an easy meal or people walking over and crushing them. While in the adjoining store, someone took our golf cart. I'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more often as they all look alike and, as we found out today, the keys are universal. We lost an hour trying to straighten out the situation with the rental company, finally just taking the original cart of the perpetrators. Suddenly running short of time, we zipped down to Old Baldy, North Carolina's oldest standing lighthouse. First lit in 1817, the tower was made from recycled bricks and covered with stucco. Many years of patching and repairing the original stucco has given it a patchwork appearance.
We climbed the 108 steps to the top and enjoyed the panoramic view from the lantern room. This shot is of the marina. Following our lighthouse visit, we hopped back into the cart and did some more exploring through the maritime forest. Nice trails led off the road to more huge live oak specimens. We even saw two deer along the way.
Large sand dunes protect all the homes from the surf. We had to be up on the top of the hill to even get a partial view of the water. I guess the elusive view of the ocean is why all of the homes are very tall. We finished our day with a walk along the Kent Mitchell Nature Trail. Nice boardwalks led over the salt marsh and met up with easy to follow trails through the denser trees.
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