Posted by Monty
Finally able to take some time to post. We have either had no cell service or have been too busy/exhausted to do so.
We left Carolina Beach State Park and had an easy jaunt down the Cape Fear River to Southport, where we stayed at another marina. We refueled and then met up with my dad. Went to his house where my stepmother cooked up a dinner that was excellent. Back to the boat and an early night.
The next day saw a run to Light Keepers Marina at Little River, SC. We then met up with dad again for dinner at Poo’s (sounds bad but tastes good). Another meal that couldn’t be beat.
The next morning was our first time transiting the famous “rockpile”, the section of the waterway that runs behind the Grand Strand beaches in SC. It is notorious for sinking the boat of many a careless or even momentarily distracted skipper. Suffice it to say that Carol made sure I was not distracted, and I managed to not rip the bottom out of Sea Bird. It was pretty cool to have another perspective of all the bridges across the waterway that I have driven over through the years. It looks totally different from below.
We then traveled down the Waccamaw River, stopping at a marina to pump out the holding tank. The last two marinas we stayed had broken pump out stations or pump out boats “on call” that could not be found. We were planning to spend the next several days at anchor, so we stopped for that express purpose. While we were there, we bought some of their famous homemade sausage.
We then anchored in Cow House Creek. Beautiful place. As we had been “on the move” for three days in a row (!), we decided before we went to bed to spend another night. As it turns out, our friends Earle and Linda were at their beach house in Murrells Inlet and were not more than five miles from the marina across the waterway from our anchorage. We met them and dinghyed them out to the boat for a visit. Linda kindly refrained from falling in, as is her lot in life whenever she is on any floating craft. My friend Rob joined us for dinner at The Dead Dog. Earle kindly provided red and green glow sticks to replace the nonexistent running lights on the dinghy, thereby surely saving us from either being run down by a trawler on the way back to the boat in the dark, or at least a hefty fine.
Leaving the next morning, we anchored in Minim Creek in North Santee for a quiet night. Secluded spot with just one other boat that came after us and left before us the next morning. Carol cooked up some pasta with the sausage, which was very good.
Today finds us at mile marker 450 in an anchorage just off the channel in ten feet of water. We have minimum cell service, so I am able to get this posted. Pictures will have to follow tomorrow, where we plan to spend a few days at a marina in downtown Charleston with Wi-Fi. There is a spot of cold weather and nasty wind forecast, and we need to do a couple of things to the boat, especially as we are considering taking the offshore route around Georgia to Florida. We’ll see. Also, I never get tired of exploring Charleston.
Carol fishes every day. Waccamaw River turned out to be more fresh water, which she did not have bait for. No luck at all until today, she has caught more fish here than all of her previous sessions since we left Oriental. She is a happy camper, but still nothing big enough to put on my plate.
So Far:
…the boat has performed almost flawlessly. The only issue is the diesel keeps moving the throttle back toward idle after I set it where I want. This only happens for about the first thirty minutes of running, and is probably just a cable adjustment. This is on the slate while we are docked in Charleston. While I am enough of a realist to know that this will not last forever, I am happy to this point.
…the crew is healthy and operating within expected norms, given the approaching cold weather and the fact that I sold this adventure on warm weather and clear water in the winter. So far neither of those have appeared on Carol’s radar.
…the weather has been good, considering the lateness of the year. No late hurricanes have formed.
All in all, life is good.
We left Carolina Beach State Park and had an easy jaunt down the Cape Fear River to Southport, where we stayed at another marina. We refueled and then met up with my dad. Went to his house where my stepmother cooked up a dinner that was excellent. Back to the boat and an early night.
The next day saw a run to Light Keepers Marina at Little River, SC. We then met up with dad again for dinner at Poo’s (sounds bad but tastes good). Another meal that couldn’t be beat.
The next morning was our first time transiting the famous “rockpile”, the section of the waterway that runs behind the Grand Strand beaches in SC. It is notorious for sinking the boat of many a careless or even momentarily distracted skipper. Suffice it to say that Carol made sure I was not distracted, and I managed to not rip the bottom out of Sea Bird. It was pretty cool to have another perspective of all the bridges across the waterway that I have driven over through the years. It looks totally different from below.
We then traveled down the Waccamaw River, stopping at a marina to pump out the holding tank. The last two marinas we stayed had broken pump out stations or pump out boats “on call” that could not be found. We were planning to spend the next several days at anchor, so we stopped for that express purpose. While we were there, we bought some of their famous homemade sausage.
We then anchored in Cow House Creek. Beautiful place. As we had been “on the move” for three days in a row (!), we decided before we went to bed to spend another night. As it turns out, our friends Earle and Linda were at their beach house in Murrells Inlet and were not more than five miles from the marina across the waterway from our anchorage. We met them and dinghyed them out to the boat for a visit. Linda kindly refrained from falling in, as is her lot in life whenever she is on any floating craft. My friend Rob joined us for dinner at The Dead Dog. Earle kindly provided red and green glow sticks to replace the nonexistent running lights on the dinghy, thereby surely saving us from either being run down by a trawler on the way back to the boat in the dark, or at least a hefty fine.
Leaving the next morning, we anchored in Minim Creek in North Santee for a quiet night. Secluded spot with just one other boat that came after us and left before us the next morning. Carol cooked up some pasta with the sausage, which was very good.
Today finds us at mile marker 450 in an anchorage just off the channel in ten feet of water. We have minimum cell service, so I am able to get this posted. Pictures will have to follow tomorrow, where we plan to spend a few days at a marina in downtown Charleston with Wi-Fi. There is a spot of cold weather and nasty wind forecast, and we need to do a couple of things to the boat, especially as we are considering taking the offshore route around Georgia to Florida. We’ll see. Also, I never get tired of exploring Charleston.
Carol fishes every day. Waccamaw River turned out to be more fresh water, which she did not have bait for. No luck at all until today, she has caught more fish here than all of her previous sessions since we left Oriental. She is a happy camper, but still nothing big enough to put on my plate.
So Far:
…the boat has performed almost flawlessly. The only issue is the diesel keeps moving the throttle back toward idle after I set it where I want. This only happens for about the first thirty minutes of running, and is probably just a cable adjustment. This is on the slate while we are docked in Charleston. While I am enough of a realist to know that this will not last forever, I am happy to this point.
…the crew is healthy and operating within expected norms, given the approaching cold weather and the fact that I sold this adventure on warm weather and clear water in the winter. So far neither of those have appeared on Carol’s radar.
…the weather has been good, considering the lateness of the year. No late hurricanes have formed.
All in all, life is good.
