TwoGether

Sunday 12/4/11        Last night the wind really blew until just before sunup.  Then there was a breeze of about 5 mph.  This boat tends to swing at anchor when there is a strong breeze so many times I will put a small anchor (lunch hook) out the back.  This really makes a difference.  Up to now there’s never been a problem but this morning when I went to pull the anchor up the line was lying on top of one of the propellers.  It wasn’t tangled …just lying there.  But each time I would pull on the line, the anchor would hang on the prop and I couldn’t pull it up.  We dropped the dinghy off its davits and I crawled in and pulled from a different direction and up it came.   Every day is a thrill show…Some days you’re a spectator …Some days a participant.                           

Up next, after Carolina Beach is Snows Cut which is a manmade cut over to the Cape Fear River.  The name is intimidating and the river can be really rough if the flow of the river, the tide and the wind don’t all agree on going the same direction.  We weren’t really sure what to expect.  The wind was out of the east and we would be headed south and southwest.  The river was almost calm, the wind at our back and the tide going our way.  At the usual power setting we should have been doing about 8.5MPH.  At one time we were actually cruising at 11.5; a 3 mph bonus. 

Just after getting settled in to the Cape Fear River channel we heard Wendy from “Reverie” call us on the VHF.  They were right behind us and getting ready to pass us on the port side.  The girls exchanged good mornings and soon John slowly pulled her away into the horizon bound for Myrtle Beach.                     

 While cruising on the Cape Fear River two pelicans flew near the boat.  The one circled around and came close to the bow it gave us a start.  Linda said if she would have reached over the railing she could have touched him.  First Mate’s Editorial:  “How did I know it was a him?  Because a girl pelican wouldn’t fly so close and risk getting hit”. This is the first day the temperature in the cabin reached 80°.

 We’re all used to the big green signs over the highway directing you to the proper exit.  Not so, on the water.  Where the ICW leaves the river there’s just two markers; one 2’ x 2’ green square on a piling,  #1, and one red buoy, #2, along the southern bank near Southport, NC.  The First Mate kept a sharp lookout for the entrance and showed the Captain where to go .  (Sometimes I think she would like to tell the captain “where to go”!)  When we were out of the river she left out a cheer and said “We made it”.

Shallott Inlet

We anchored in Milliken Cove on Calabash Creek, the first creek in SC.  Actually if you would go another ¼ mile up the creek you would be back in NC.  At this point the ICW joins the Little River which flows form the Myrtle Beach area.  There is a crossroads here made up by the ICW, and Little River crossed by Calabash Creek and Little River Inlet. From our anchorage we can’t see the Little River Inlet and how it parrallels the ICW .  About a half hour after anchoring  we saw a ship coming down what we thought was the ICW. We were a bit amazed.  Then when it looked like he was turning into Calabash Creek, amazement turned to PANIC !  There was barely enough room for us in here... what is he thinking???               The crossroads is only 150 yards wide, so when they are inbound they actually have to span the ICW to make the left turn.  It gives the illusion they are entering Calabash Creek.  The ship was the “Aquasino”, a floating casino based in the town of Little River.  About a half hour later came the “Big M Casino” and the scinerio palyed out again.  Later that night they both went back out to the Atlantic with another load of high-rollers aboard.  I have no idea when they returned but the next moring we passed them moored along the ICW.

Calabash Creek: N 33° 52.387 W078° 34.190

 

Monday 12/ 5/11.     Today will take us from north of Myrtle Beach, through the “Rock Pile”, to somewhere on the Waccamaw River.  This is a rather slow stretch of the ICW because of all the homes built against the waterway, each having a boat dock, and many no wake zones. 

There is no shortage of fabulous homes and golf courses along the Grand Strand as it is known.

Also in this area is “the Rock Pile”.  Along the banks there are shelves of rock right at water level.  It’s a manmade cut so it is narrow.  Passing a tug-barge combination or any large yacht can get really cozy.

There are stories of large boats hitting the rocks while trying to pass in this area.  Linda called ahead on the VHF to see it there was any northbound traffic.  No answer…Here we go.  Staying in the center of the channel is the key and we didn’t see another boat in the three mile stretch. 

Just south of the Rock Pile is an outlet center with a bulkhead where you can tie up if you’re in the shopping mood.

We finally made it into the Waccamaw River.  This is a desolate area of Cypress swamp.  Any minute you expect to hear Dueling Banjos coming from the shore.  This looks like the movie set for Deliverance.

Bridge tenders for the most part are rather a friendly bunch.  Some bridges open on demand while other have a schedule you must meet.  At some on demand bridges the bridge tender will try to time the opening of the bridge with your arrival.  This makes a seamless process. But others seem to enjoy making you stop and hold station in the wind and current until they are good and ready. Socastee Bridge is a town on the Waccamaw.  While the bridge tender was courteous on the VHF we had to almost run into the bridge, stop and hold until it opened.  Then we were barely inside the swing and he started to close the bridge.  It’s posted “Idle Speed. No Wake”.  That’s kind of hard to do when you have a thousand tons of steel chasing you!

The most peaceful anchorage we have had yet was up Bull Creek.  Cypress and pine woods…the hooting of an owl, the call of a turkey and the croaking of frogs were the only sounds.

Bull Creek     N33°36.114   W079°06.451

Tuesday 12/6/11      There was just a wisp of fog floating over the still waters of Bull Creek as we made our way back out to the Waccamaw in a  gentle rain which was barely visible.  The wind was calm and the trip was calming.

At Georgetown, SC the Waccama River empties into Winyah Bay that in turn flows into the Atlantic. Five miles before the Winyah Bay Entrance the ICW takes a left turn almost identical to the Cape Fear River.

Here you enter a manmade cut called the Estherville- Minim Creek Canal.  Suddenly you realize that you have left the cypress swamps behind and the view becomes vast expanses of savannah lands.  It’s a quiet serene trip with pelicans, gulls, cormorants and the occasional dolphin coming by as if to say hello.

A check of the weather and we find there are to be high to gale force winds for the next few days.  We checked with Leland Oil Company, in McClellanville, to find if they would have a slip available and decided to stay tied up until all this passes.  We were given instructions as to where to tie up when we arrive and the owner said he would check in with us in the morning.  McClellanville has been a fishing village since the 1700s and is home to at least a dozen shrimp boats.  The tide here is about six feet.  Thankfully there is a floating dock which will ride the tide with us.

 McClellanville SC   N33° 04.983  W079° 27.751