SC - MYRTLE BEACH AND GEORGETOWN

He Said:  Hello North Myrtle Beach.  We departed on Tuesday in the morning with about a 50 mile trip ahead of us.   All went well other than all of the very shallow water we travel in.  Paying lots of attention and steering the whole time is very important.  Normally we simply use our auto-pilot, but not so much in the IntraCoastal.

We arrived in mid afternoon at N. Myrtle with intentions of spending just Tuesday at the marina.  We reached out for Richie and Dana, our friends from Phoenix, but couldn’t hook up until Wednesday nite.  No problem, so we just hung out another eve and met up on Wednesday.  We had a great time visiting at the local pub and then headed back to our boat for a short visit.  N. Myrtle Beach is really cool, and the little village-like area was about 100 ft. from the boat.  It made our visit very simple.

 

Dana and Richie Bungert

 

After 2 nites there we headed out on Thursday morning for a pretty long ride to a little anchor area we had heard about.  We traveled down a creek area and found a beautiful little area to spend the nite.  It was very cool that our anchor situation is becoming a ton simpler each time we do it.  Following a nice peaceful evening we headed out the following day for Georgetown, SC.

 

Sunset on Thoroughfare Creek while anchored

 

Our travel day was not a long one and we arrived in GTown at about lunch.  Our intentions were to anchor again, but the anchor area was very limited to a certain area.  There was about 20 or 25 boats, and we were challenged as to where to throw the anchor.  Once your boat starts to swing with the current changing it requires lots of room, and we felt like we would have been too tight for comfort. The end result was we decided to head into the marina for the nite.  We really enjoyed the small city; it was another really cool area. About 50% of the city is employed with the company that I retired from (International Paper). We headed out that nite and talked to a few locals that were also in the printing business.  You could see the smoke coming from the IP plant but strange enough it did not smell like a city with a paper mill in it.

 

On Saturday morning we left GTown and headed S for a pretty long day.  We headed to Dewees Creek to throw our anchor again and found a little creek off of the ICW only about 15 miles S of Charleston.  We anchored in about 10 ft. of water and had a very peaceful Saturday nite.  We really like the peace and quiet of anchoring and also the 0$$ cost.  We like to mix up our evenings with docking and anchoring.  There are lots of advantages and disadvantages to both, but at the end of the day we really enjoy both as different as they are.  We did not mind traveling most of Saturday because my Buckeyes had a bye so I didn’t spend my day looking for a bar to catch the game.

 

Sunset while anchored on Dewees Creek

 

We rolled out of the creek at about 10AM and headed to Charleston. We left later in the morning so our timing the current would work to our favor. We arrived early afternoon on Sunday to a slack tide.  We like docking the boat near slack tide due to the fact the water is not making your life difficult when docking.  We had slight winds to deal with but all went well.  We plan on spending a week here in Charleston.  We were here about 14 months ago but only spent 2 nites and felt it was not nearly long enough.  The main part of the city and everything else is supposed to be only about 5 minutes by foot, we like this.  

Fall colors on the Waccamaw River.  This width is typical while traveling the ICW 

 

Keeping the boat exactly in the center of the narrow waters and keeping out of shallow water (under 5 ft.) has been very challenging and the most difficult part of the trip. We are about 400 miles down the ICW, about 1/3 of our way to Key West.  We are still planning on Florida by the early part of December and spending at least 4 winter months down there.  Anybody looking to warm up this winter ring us up, and we will let you know exactly where we are planning on being.  That’s about it for now.

 

Take Care, Jack

 

 

She Said:  The batteries were installed, but we did not leave for North Myrtle Beach as planned.  The trip to Myrtle Beach has 3 major obstacles – 2 of which are minimized if we travel during high tide.  The battery installation was finished too late in the day to allow us to travel during high tide so we decided to stay another night in Southport. 

 

We did leave Southport early the next morning, and it was a good thing that we waited.  There are 2 inlets (where there’s access to the Atlantic from the ICW) that we would be transiting that are shoaling and creating very shallow water.  We need 3.8” and we’ve heard that the water is as low as 2.5”.  Because we crossed these areas during high tide, and we followed the guidance of boaters who recently transited these areas, we made it through just fine.  It seems like almost everyone we’ve talked with has either gone aground or seen a boat aground in these areas.  (One boater we talked to was one of 4 boats that went aground at the same time.) We’ve been lucky – but we’ve also been smart.  The third obstacle that we transited was called the “Rock Pile” – a 3+ mile stretch of the Pine Island Cut.  It took the Army Corps of Engineers 2 years to blast through the limestone in this area, and it’s still very narrow with rocks under the center of channel and alongside the channel.  It’s so bad that it’s recommended that boaters broadcast their crossing to commercial vessels because it’s too narrow and dangerous for two vessels to cross at the same time.  I can’t tell you how relieved I was to finally arrive at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach. 

 

This was a great area to spend a couple nights.  We were docked next to 120+ specialty shops and 20+ restaurants.   No big purchases for us, but we had lots of good food.  This part of the ICW is fresh water and there were alligators in the area.  We didn’t see any, but Jack was on the look-out.  Best of all we met up with some old friends from Phoenix – Dana and Richie Bungert.  It was so good seeing them again and getting caught up.  The evening flew by.

 

 

We have our golf clubs with us, but we haven’t used them yet.  When we’ve had the opportunity to golf, the weather hasn’t cooperated.  When the weather’s been good, we haven’t been near a course.  There was a golf course near the marina in Myrtle Beach, but we weren’t able to take advantage of it.  It was a really different course – there was a cable car that transported golfers and their club across the ICW.  You can see how the golf clubs ride outside the cable car. 

 

After 2 nights, we set sail down the Waccamaw River – what an absolutely gorgeous waterway.  We anchored on the Thoroughfare Creek off the Waccamaw.  This was an entirely different anchoring experience for us.  First of all, it was the first time we anchored completely on our own - there was absolutely no one near us.  Secondly, this was the first time we anchored in a creek – we have always been in bays/coves/harbors.  It was a little unsettling (translation:  I didn’t sleep very well), but everything was fine.  Another successful anchoring – we may get the hang of anchoring yet!  And, the new batteries were wonderful – we didn’t need the generator at all.

 

Spanish Moss on a tree along the Waccamaw River

 

 

The red and green things are beached channel makers that we rely on while navigating the waterways

 

The winds finally quieted down, but the temps are still cool.  I had three layers of clothes on when we left the next morning for Georgetown.  Georgetown was briefly settled in the 1500s and has had its ups and downs.  It was a major center for indigo and rice, then lumber and steel.  A few weeks ago there was a major fire on the waterfront that destroyed 6 store fronts.  Today there’s an International Paper plant, shrimping, and tourism.  We arrived early hoping to once again anchor.  The anchorage was really crowded and the winds picked up – we debated whether we should even stay.  We ultimately decide to stay, and we got a slip at a marina.  The town was a pleasant surprise – really quaint, nicely maintained, great architecture, a fabulous bakery, and plenty of shops and restaurants.  We really enjoyed our short stay here.

 

Georgetown shoreline

We had another long travel day, so we were up and out early Saturday morning.  We had only one difficult section of the ICW and everything went smoothly.   This stretch of the ICW wasn’t very picturesque – lots of marshes and not much else, except dolphins.  We found a nice anchorage and dropped anchor around 3:30pm.  There were several dolphins as we pulled into the anchorage area and one dolphin was swimming around the boat after we set anchor.  It was really cool.

 

Our only neighbor while anchored on the Dewees Creek

We had a short trip Sunday morning to Charleston.  The marinas in Charleston are on either the Ashley or the Cooper Rivers.  The problem with docking on rivers is the current, so we wanted to time our arrival during slack tide.  We also wanted to travel during mid to high tide.  Even though the trip was short, it was challenging.  We went through some really shallow water – glad we waited for a favorable tide.  The arrival in Charleston was easy, and we quickly settled in.  Our marina has a great location and we’re looking forward to a week in Charleston.  The weather is supposed to be awful – record setting lows and wind advisories – but the city will be fun!