Author: Phil

Worried about the travel time today, we pulled out of Isle of Palm at 7:15 heading south to Beaufort, SC, an 80-mile trip.  We passed through Charleston Harbor, through Elliot Cut, and meandered through the Ashley River, the Stono River, the South Edisto River, the Coosaw River, the Ashepoo River, and probably several other smaller rivers as we traversed this section of South Carolina.  There were several very skinny water sections in this portion but we lucked out. The timing of our travel had us at or near high tide for all the worst spots.  We loved it, sat back and enjoyed the views.  The tides were also our friend today as they were strong (plus 2 knots) in our direction more than against.  We made the trip averaging 10 mpg, more than we had planned.  Tied up and relaxing by 3:30 was the result.  It allowed us time to get ready for a great meal at Dockside, not the one in Colonial Beach, but a true competitor of our hometown place.

We’re now planning our car trip to Colonial Beach from 9 to 16 December for all those winter activities the elderly have—doctors’ appointments! We hope to stop in Marineland Marina in Marineland, FL., this Saturday and make this necessary car trip. We’ll return and continue heading south,  hoping to cross over to the Bahamas by the end of the month.  Getting excited.  This will be our seventh trip cruising the Bahamas and possibly our last…older age being what it is!

Here are a few pictures of the day. Remember to double-click to enlarge the view and use the back arrow to return to the page.

After that meal last night, we both slept soundly.  Up to sunshine and temps in the 30s, we quickly got the boat underway and headed for Isle of Palm.  This is an area on the ICW just north and east of Charleston.  We had a pleasant 52-mile trip through some of South Carolina’s low country.  We also passed through a very shallow stretch of the ICW at McCellanville SC — at low tide 4.5 MLLW is generally recorded.  Luckily we passed it 3 hours earlier and had plenty of water.  A later part of the trip near the Isle of Palm, at low tide, caused us concern but we made it through.  The rest of the trip was easy.  The temperatures even climbed into the 60s for a while.  We saw the results of another boating issue along the route and more homes.  Carey even found a tower that excited her after a day of boring marshland views.  Dinner on board and a quiet evening.

REMEMBER you can double-click on a picture for a larger view return to this page using the back arrow key.

Barefoot Landing Marina was a quiet stop and we were comfortably underway for Georgetown, SC at 8 AM.  This 52-mile trip is always a pleasant short trip through canals and woodlands as the Waccamaw River winds its way south to Georgetown.  One picture I missed posting yesterday was the tourist cruise ship that had been decorated and participated in last night’s boat parade.

We cruised at a comfortable 10 mph for just over 5 hours and pulled into our slip at Harborwalk Marina.  We noticed a building spree as new homes continued to be built along the waterway.  People love the water and live in all sorts of homes — see some below.  It was a quiet and uneventful trip and we pass on a few pictures.  Georgetown is one of our favorite stops and it didn’t disappoint.  We walked through the beautiful holiday-decorated historic waterfront town on our way to a scrumptious dinner.   Delightful day and evening!  Now headed to the Isle of Palms just above Charleston harbor, meandering thru the lowlands on our way.

We slept in today — up at 7 AM and underway an hour later.  It was 31 degrees on deck but we got the electric cable and lines onboard and were off to Myrtle Beach.  It was a 72 statue mile trip through the lower portion of the Cape Fear River, then two known shallow sections of the ICW that have taken some paint off the hulls of many boats (Lockwood’s Folley and Shallotte Inlet in NC).  Our schedule indicated going through these two areas at near low tide.  What fun!  We made it through — and I wish I could show in photos what it’s like twisting and turning through a shallow inlet from the ocean as the sands beneath the water keep changing.  A fun event.  After these events we passed through “the Rock Pile,” a section of the ICW that surprised the government developing the ICW.  This was an approximate five- mile section of the ICW that was solid rock.  The digging caused added cost and time so it has less width than the rest of the ICW and on the shoreline heavy rocks can catch a less than watchful Captain navigating this section.  As we closed in on Myrtle Beach we noticed preparations for an ICW Christmas Lighted Boat Parade in North Myrtle Beach.  Over 50 boats participated.  We moored past the parade route so we only saw a couple of boats preparing and one coming past after the parade.  We ate aboard and tried to clean the boat with no water on the docks.  But, this morning, we were delighted to find the star of the parade, the Barefoot Queen paddle boat, moored behind us.   Wonderfully decorated!  Moving on, we’re headed to Georgetown, one of our favorite spots and where we’ve spent Christmas aboard in the past.   Below are some pictures from today.

As mentioned, we’re in Beaufort NC for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Wednesday we relaxed and went to the store for last-minute items for the Thanksgiving feast.   We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset over some gorgeous sailboats.  Thursday was a special day — Carey made an exceptional dinner and the two of us enjoyed each other’s company and the food.  We also enjoyed listening to the start of a Beaufort tradition — the 5K Gobble Walk that allows young, old, and everybody in between.   And it was a good stop as the winds blew 15 to 20 knots — not a good day for traveling.  Friday arrived with light winds and plenty of sunshine, but still cold.  We got underway at 7 AM and started the 70-mile trip to Wrightsville Beach, NC.  You’ll see some of the sights along our way below.  What can’t be shown in pictures is the great navigation day we had.  We traveled the 70 miles managing 3 bridges that had to open for our air height but only opened on the hour and half-hour and two very shallow inlet areas in the ICW.  One of those we had to travel at dead low tide.  A nail-biter but we made it through.  We arrived at Wrightsville Beach at 4 PM and you see some of the lights of the evening as in the last picture.  We had our best meal of the trip so far (and most expensive) at the restaurant at the Bridge Tender Marina, where we had stopped for the night.  After dinner, back to the boat to get ready for tomorrow’s trip to Myrtle Beach and Barefoot Landing Marina.

REMEMBER — double click on picture to see larger viewing, back arrow to return to this page.