The end of no-drma

On the hard again...

Balboita takes a hit...

Balboita is residing at Zimmerman's Yacht Yard in Southport, NC, getting significant repairs.  (I had to use an old photo of an earlier repair since I don't have a current one.)

What happened?  Well, we were waiting for the Surf City, NC, swing bridge to open along with about 10 other boats when, whoosh, the current from hell pushed us hard aground.  We got off, but later we would learn the price. 

Ten miles down the ICW at sunset, the steering went out.  Have you ever had the steering go out on anything?  It's like hitting ice in your car and then just sliding down a hill, the prisoner of a pissed-off god.

We bow-thrusted (new word) to the side of the ICW, dropped the anchor, lit up the boat like a cruise ship and attempted to sleep because there was nothing else we could do.  Barry, the master mechanic fixed the steering in the morning (something about tightening a clamp).  But reverse drive made clunking sounds like a pile driver.  We were not out of the woods.

Limping into Southport Marina and then limping over to Zimmermans Yacht Yard for a haul out.  Results are not good.   Prop, rudder, steering and other connections at the stern are badly damaged by the grounding.  The prop going to Wilmington for hoped-for repair, because new ones are expensive.  All this will take at least a week.  

So, we had to find a place for us and the Sheltie bros to stay, which turned out to have to be separate.  Doggies are at a nearby pet camp and we are at the perfect place called Lois Jane's Riverside Inn in Southport.  The gods apparently felt sorry for us because both places can't be beat.

Riverside Inn

Surf City Swing Bridge has a reputation...

Somehow we never experienced this awful current in the eight times we're been up and down the ICW.

Surf City swing bridge having a good day.

Looks pretty innocent.  Well, waiting underneath is a current with a bad attitude.  Turns out more than one boater has gotten caught in the swirl and even hit the bridge.  Somehow, we've been out of the loop.

The best news I've heard all day is that this bridge is about to be replaced with a 65-foot high-rise one, so no more openings and dealing with the current.  The bad news is it's not until September 2019.

That's all folks.