Intuition Log – 31 May
Georgetown to Little River, SC
Underway at 0752 and back in the waterway by 0805. We had read in Skipper Bob that leaving Georgetown at high tide allows a favorable current all the way to Myrtle Beach. It seems contradictory, but we started with a 0.7 kt push, so we can’t complain.
Beth at the Helm
Shortly after 0800 Beth called Boat/US and let them know we were north of Florida, effectively cutting our insurance rate in half. Our sympathy is extended to responsible boaters in FL and the Bahamas paying exorbitant insurance rates.
Osprey Nest on ICW
North of Georgetown the waterway winds through cypress swamps. Osprey were nesting on channel markers and in dead trees along the route. Took lots of photos in hopes of getting a few good ones. Water hyacinths were floating upstream in the current with us, so Beth netted a couple for our little pond at home.
On the Way to Camden
Kayaks are a common site on the waterway; usually folks out for some quiet and to see the bird life. At 1136 we came upon a kayak that stood out as it had a pontoon for stability. Sure enough, it was the same woman that we had passed two days ago coming north from Charleston. Slowed and chatted for a minute learning that she is kayaking from Miami, Florida to Camden, Maine! And we thought we were cramped for space. She has a web site at Miami2Maine.com that we will check out once we are connected again.
By noon the trees and swamps were behind us. A man made canal was surrounded by the huge homes and golf courses of Myrtle Beach. One golf course spans the waterway and uses cable cars to take golfers across. The Grand Dunes area even had a bridge that matched the architecture of the resort.
Single Family Home on the ICW
Approaching Barefoot Landing we noticed a boat aground with the crew rocking it from side to side. Getting closer it was our friends on Snow Day from Toronto. This crew of two adults, two kids and two full sized dogs on a 27 foot ketch always seem to be in good spirits and were taking this in stride. They were off shortly and docked at Myrtle Beach to get off the boat and see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
We passed the entrance to Coquina Yacht Harbor where we stopped on our way South at 1500 and decided we could go further. By 1547 we had the anchor down near the Little River inlet, within 400 yards of North Carolina. We covered 55.2 nm in under eight hours. Skipper Bob was right, we carried a fair current the entire distance.
Anchored on the Border
Six boats ended up anchoring here by sunset. The area was active with head boats coming in and out from Calabash and casino boats going out into “international waters” from Myrtle Beach. Just before dark a shrimp boat came in and ran their bow right into the shoreline between two anchored boats. They spent a couple of hours messing with their outriggers, then backed off and headed out the inlet.
Sunset on the ICW
Noah finished his math review problems after much procrastination. When we are still long enough to review the other subjects with him it will be time for the year end tests and school will be over. After dinner he designed a “Monkey Madness” video game on paper with rules, key definitions and three screens. He walked me through level one and then we read more of “Around the World in 80 days.”
Mark