May 11, 2020 - May 16, 2020
Bob got up in the middle of the night and redid our schedule so I was surprised at 6:15 am when he told me we had to leave by 7:30 am or earlier. The original plan was for us to have a leisurely morning and leave at 9:30 am. When he explained his reasoning it made perfect sense. We quickly took showers, emptied the trash, bought ice, untied the dock lines and were off at 7:15 am. We had an easy day of it passing through trouble spots at high or close to high tide and made 61 miles to our anchorage on Stono River. Bob grilled steaks and I fixed corn on the cob! Wonderful!
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| I enjoy reading boat names. I liked this one. Do you think the owners of "Play'N Hooky" were school teachers? |
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| Our anchorage was right in front of this house. |
Our main trouble spot on Tuesday was Elliot Cut which is a narrow channel dug between two rivers with a tremendous current except at slack tide. We left at 7:15 to get to the cut as the tide finished going out and was ready to change and start coming in. It was perfect timing. Unfortunately the bridge on the other side of the cut did not open until 9:30 am. We anchored near by and had breakfast and waited for the bridge to open. We passed by Charleston and Isle of Palms, two of our frequently visited spots. Since our day was so long yesterday we decided to cut our day short and were anchored in Whiteside Creek by 1:00 pm. We had a little trouble getting the anchor to hold (we are particularly anxious about this because of dragging) but finally found a good spot and relaxed for the afternoon.
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| It seemed odd not to stop in Charleston. This was our view from the harbor. |
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| A few clouds make a great sunset. |
Wednesday we traveled past McClellanville on the narrow and shallow Jeremy creek. We crossed the South Santee and the North Santee Rivers and along a canal to Winyah Bay. We passed Georgetown and up the Waccamaw River to one of our favorite anchorages behind Butler Island. The anchorage was beautiful with Cypress trees and so much wildlife.
Lola and I stayed on the cabin top watching and listening to the birds for a while. It was a calming stop!
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| Of course, I was able to capture a beautiful sunset. |
Our goal for Thursday was to traverse the Waccamaw River until we branched off to a canal on the ICW. The Waccamaw River is one of the most beautiful Rivers on the ICW. It winds through banks lined with cypress trees standing in the water some draped with Spanish moss. We were west of Myrtle Beach for the several hours where the canal dug for the ICW is lined with spacious homes most with infinity pools. We stopped around 1:30 at Barefoot Landing Marina for the night.
Our goal for Friday was a marina in Southport. We usually stay a few days at the Southport Municipal Marina, but it was full. We had heard a couple on s/v Lucille who’s home port was Rockhall MD on the VHF calling bridges just behind us. We had even passed under opening bridges in tandem a couple of times. They docked right behind us in Southport and we finally got to meet them a chat for awhile sharing stories and strategies for the next few days. It was refreshing to talk to other people (we practiced social distancing, of course) especially since we weren't going to be able to visit any of our favorite restaurants in Southport.
We got a late start on Saturday morning to take advantage of a rising tide on the Cape Fear River. Since the river has a two to three knot current it was a wise move and our destination was only four hours away. Cape Fear River was busy with pleasure boats, but it was wide enough to give all boaters plenty of room. That was not the case when we left the river and entered the canal of the ICW. It was pure chaos with jet skis, small boats, large boats, kayaks, and standup paddle boards everywhere. We vowed never to travel this bit of the ICW on a weekend again (it was that crazy). We arrived at the Seapath Marina in Wrightsville Beach early afternoon. We registered and got the lay of the land. When asked about shower facilities the dock hand told us they were being renovated. So no showers here. I’m thankful we took the time to shower in Southport.
We are debating about staying in Wrightsville beach until the predicted tropical storm passes through. We’ll see what happens.
Thank you for reading my blog.
