A lot happens in a few days!

The last post was from Cumberland Island, GA where we spent an extra day visiting the National Park and walking around the island.  It was a nice day to get off the boat and stretch the legs. We only saw a small part of the park on the southern end of the island which included the remnants of an old Carnegie estate. The titans of the industrial revolution certainly knew how to live. Unfortunately, the main house was mostly destroyed by fire and many of the other buildings have deteriorated, but it was interesting to see the foundation of the former indoor pool along with the polo grounds, ice house and all of the other infrastructure that it took to maintain the estate. 

The dinghy worked well this time to transport us back and forth to the boat. When we were here in the fall, the dinghy battery was dead and we were not able to get to the island. After a very heavy and imposing looking rainstorm passed through, we spent a beautiful night at anchor with very still water and clear skies. 

We got an early start the next morning with plans to anchor out in the grasslands of Georgia. Our original plan was to try an outside run up to Hilton Head, but the ocean conditions were not conducive for that. It was a delightful cruise on the ICW under beautiful conditions. Shortly after passing the submarine base at Kings Bay, we encountered a dredge working at one of the hairpin turns. We were instructed to pass as close to the dredge as we could to avoid shallow water. We got through without incident, but we were a little bit too close for comfort while passing the massive and intimidating dredge equipment. No time to take pictures as we were completely involved in getting through safely.

A few miles further and we came upon a familiar looking boat. It was Wayne and Diane on "Lady Di." We first met them at the Grand Bahama Yacht Club and then again at Fort Pierce. Here we are hundreds of miles away, and we run into them again. We communicated by VHF radio and decided to raft together for the night on the North River near Darien, GA. We had a good time socializing and then had one of the best nights on anchor that we have ever had. It was calm, clear and we slept very well. The sunset as well as the sunrise were beautiful, although I think I was the only one awake during sunrise. Both boats had reservations at the Isle of Hope Marina outside of Savannah. We took off before Lady Di as we needed to take on fuel at the marina.

I did not have great memories of the ICW in Georgia after our last trip. It is long and winding. You end up traveling a long time on the water to go a short distance "as the crow flies." I will say that since it was high tide and the channel was wide and deep, it was fun to run the boat at speed and actually drive it around all the twists and turns of the channel.

The folks at the Isle Hope Marina were very helpful and accommodating. Martha and Diane used the marina courtesy car to go to the grocery store while I washed down the boat. After a quiet night, we woke up early to attend an Easter Sunrise service in the marina gazebo held by the local Presbyterian Church. It was a very nice service, starting promptly at 7:13am so that everyone could witness the beautiful sunrise from this perfect location. After the 30 minute service we headed back to the boat and got underway just a few minutes after 8:00am.

Good weather conditions allowed us to take the Savannah River to the ocean and head up to Charleston from there. The wind and gentle waves were behind us, so we had a good passage up to the very busy Charleston Harbor. There were a number of big ships coming and going, and a lot of people were on the water taking advantage of an unusually warm Easter Sunday. There were sailboats, fishing boats and jet skis all around. The Charleston Harbor Marina is in a good location for ICW travelers, but it is notorious for swift currents. We got in ok, fueled up and moved over to the next dock for our one-night stay. We ended up stern-to-stern with the boat "Necessity" from Chester Springs, PA. After a short conversation with Nancy, I found out that she and her husband Dutch keep their boat at Osprey Point, only they are on C dock which is at the other end from our slip. I don't know how we have missed meeting them before. These "small world" experiences are very common when traveling by boat on the ICW.

On the Monday after Easter we had another early morning start to get to Wacca Wache Marina on the Waccamaw River. We had a good stay there in November and they have one of the lowest fuel prices on the entire ICW, so it was worth another stop. On the way there, we passed a large tug and barge. The tug was Island Trader, one that we have seen many times on the ICW. As per our previous experience at Wacca Wache, the dockhands were great and very friendly. We were on a fixed dock next to the fuel dock and had a little challenge getting on and off the boat, but we only had to deal with it for one short night.

An early start the next morning was needed to get to Southport, NC before the winds got too bad. I had a little concern that docking may be a challenge if the winds kick up too high. We got through the rest of the beautiful Waccamaw River on our way to Myrtle Beach. 

Just before Myrtle Beach, we passed by the home of a legend on the ICW, Bryan Carbino, the administrator of the Facebook page "Show Us Your Boat." Bryan takes videos of passing boats and posts them on Facebook. I didn't think he would be out so early, but fortunately for us he was sitting on his deck as we went by and captured a very nice video that was quickly posted on FB. I have been following the page for a few years and am proud to be in one of his videos. I thanked him for including us.

From there on I knew it was going to be slow going. Myrtle Beach is one of my least favorite areas as you have to travel at no wake speed (slow) for miles and miles. There is also a lot of traffic when you get into the commercial area. We were sure to notice that construction of new homes along the ICW is still in full swing. Many with lush landscaping, backyards designed for entertaining and infinity pools. There are so many of them it gets old and monotonous.

Before getting to Southport, we passed by the area of  Shallotte Inlet and Holden Beach which includes Lockwoods Folly. Both of these spots have shoaling problems and require the full attention of the captain. The addition of many boats out enjoying the water complicates things a little more. In particular, there were a lot of pontoon boats. 

South Harbor Marina came into view, so I called them on the radio to get docking instructions. I knew this might be a challenge, but it was a lot more than I thought it might be. We had to battle some strong winds, get through a narrow opening and lay up along a dock with the wind blowing us off it. Thankfully, the dockhands were very helpful and after what seemed like an eternity we were finally tied up safely. I definitely need more practice docking in strong winds, but that is hard to get when you avoid cruising in extremely windy conditions. I think I will do better next time, but I'm not sure I really want there to be a next time in those types of conditions.

The forecast for today includes rain and wind gusts up to 50 mph. Not a good day to be out on the water, so we will wait here until the conditions are more favorable. We have already gotten a good rain this morning, so I may be able to skip washing the boat to rid it of the coating of salt. 

The next leg will be dependent on weather. Stay tuned.