Up the ICW

After leaving Charleston in the morning mist, we arrived in Minim Creek anchorage and decided not to push on to Georgetown. We are ahead of schedule and do not need to push too hard. The next morning we left for Osprey Marina on the Waccamaw River which is such a pretty area to motor through. There is cypress forest along the banks and lots of eagles. We have also seen so many dolphins on this trip. They are such wonderful creatures.  They swam along with us crossing the Gulf Stream diving back and forth in front of our bow and we have seen several of them everyday on our way up the waterway.

The Osprey Marina is tucked back in the trees off the ICW and we stayed there on the way south last fall. They tried to put us in a slip but we were too big and after trying to shove us in with 3 dockhands holding lines we said no it would not work and the dock master let us go back to the fuel dock which is where we stayed last year. We used the time at dock to remove our damaged main sail and folded it up to fit into the salon til we can get it to a sail loft for new slides and repair.

We left at first light(6:20 a.m. or so)in very dense fog and spent a good 2.5 hours straining our eyes and trying to stay in the center of the channel without being able to see much more then 20 ft. in front of us. Fortunately our chart plotter has worked for 2 days straight and it was very helpful. By 9 a.m. just as we entered the worst part of The Rockpile the fog burned off.

The Rockpile is a stretch of the ICW where rock croppings point out into the channel unseen under water leaving a very narrow channel to maneuver in. It is a little nerve racking under the best conditions but in the fog things were tense. We made it through and arrived safely in Southport, SC where we stayed at a free dock at the Provision Company. All they require is that you eat a meal there so we had dinner which was excellent and met some very nice folks who live there now but used to live in Reston. A big storm blew through while we were having dinner. It is an open air restaurant and the staff jumped up and lowered the protective shades. The Coast Guard had broadcast a warning to all mariners about an hour before to get off the water and find safe harbor which we did and made it in before the storm hit.

The weather the next day-Sunday-was to continue to be bad and wet and we were uncertain whether we would leave or stay but as we prepared to depart at 7 a.m. the rain stopped and the wind died and we were on our way up the Cape Fear River toward Wrightsville Beach, NC. riding the flood tide and doing 8.6 mph-very fast for us. Just as we approached Snow's Cut a confusing part of the river, the chart plotter died once again.

We will spend tonight in Wrightsville Beach anchorage and leave tomorrow for Mile Hammock Bay anchorage in the middle of Camp Lejeune. It is cool and damp as we get further north and we are digging out our warmer clothes for the remaining days to Annapolis. We will be stopping either in Elizabeth City or Coinjock to visit with our friends, Don and Jean Pratt and pick up 2 months worth of mail and then on to the Chesapeake Bay.