Charleston-Cape Fear - Apr 27-May 1

Monday morning the captain had us underway by 6:30am. We left Charleston this early in order to get through a portion of the ICW near Little Goat Island and Isle of Palm before low tide. The waters get too skinny (shallow) at low tide. Our destination for the day was Georgetown, SC, 62 miles away. While passing a sailboat, our port motor stopped running and would not restart. The first mate took over the helm piloting with one motor while the captain went down to the man cave to assess the situation. He soon found that the rotor in the distributor had cracked. He replaced it with a spare we had on board and we were back in action again! Yes! Late afternoon we pulled into Harborwalk Marina. Georgetown was a cute town to walk around and have dinner. At the marina, met Charlie and Kay from Plane 2 Sea who recently started the Loop in Jacksonville, FL.

Tuesday morning we walked over the Aunny's Country Kitchen for breakfast. This is a family run southern diner with Gospel music playing in the background. We were now ready to head on to Myrtle Beach 53 miles up the ICW. Our travels took us on the Waccmaw River which is part of the ICW. The locals say the river is the color of tea. We felt it looked more like coffee! The river is lined with beautiful moss draped trees. Close to Myrtle Beach the scenery changed to large homes and golf courses. Our  dockage for the next two nights was Barefoot Landing Marina. This is a 1000 foot floating dock along the sea wall of the ICW with many shops and restaurants near by. 

Wednesday morning the owner of the marina took Sheli to Bi-Lo to pick up some groceries. Meanwhile, Steve returned to the man cave to do an change oil on both engines and the generator.  It was a rainy cold afternoon so a good time to go to the Outlet Mall. The captain spent enough at Tommy Bahama and the tool store to get the first mate a free tote bag. What a guy! 

With all the captain's shopping, we couldn't afford to stay here any longer. Thursday was a sunny, cool day...perfect for traveling. Shortly after leaving the dock, we entered an area known as the Rockpile. This is an area where you must travel in the center of the waterway because you will find rocks if you veer too far off center.  We followed common practice by doing a securite call on the radio prior to entering this cut to alert other vessels of our location and intentions. Soon after the Rockpile we crossed into North Carolina. Later that afternoon we were stopped and boarded for a routine inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard. We passed with flying colors! Nice guys, they reminded us of our nephew Travis who is also a Coastie. We dropped the anchor that evening in Tina's Pocket. (an anchorage near Southport, NC.)  

Friday morning we pulled the anchor and traveled 6 miles SOUTH to the marina at Bald Head Island at Cape Fear. We had planned on one night, but quickly decided we will stay at least 2 nights. It's a beautiful island with no cars, just golf carts, bikes and lots of beaches. 

 Waccmaw River

 Waiting for swing bridge to open.

 Rockpile

 Oh, oh.

 Great guys!