We probably sound like a broken record, but we had another couple of really nice days of cruising. We timed our departure in Charleston to once again avoid some shallow areas that we knew we were going to have to travel through...meaning that we left later in the day than we would ordinarily have chosen. But, our patience paid off, as the one spot we were worried about (Matthews Cut) snagged a couple of boats who ventured through here before we did. We heard one trawler on the radio who was grounded, and while we were passing through, we saw a sailboat that had grounded earlier. Both of these were more of nuisance groundings most likely, as the tide was rising as we passed them, so all they had to do was wait a while, and the tide would eventually float them on their way. Our depth alarms were busy (meaning that we were traveling in less than 6 feet of water) but we were never in danger of grounding ourselves.
The topography started to change (finally) and we started to see more trees, and the salt marshes started to fade away. We had dozens of dolphins swimming with us all day...it was spectacular. We have about given up trying to get the perfect dolphin picture...but each encounter is still tons of fun!
We arrived in Georgetown, to find a very nice, although small marina. It was very convenient to town, which turned out to be another neat little southern town with some history. It appeared to us that some revitalization had been successful, but there were still numerous storefronts that were empty or for lease. Georgetown is the 3rd oldest city in South Carolina (behind Charlestown and Savannah) and traces its early roots to the indigo, and then the rice industry. Today, there is a large paper mill, and a recently closed steel mill.
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| The Harborwalk area just adjacent to our marina in Georgetown. |
Upon heading north from Georgetown, the topography changed dramatically within a few miles. Here, the ICW is actually the Waccamaw River, and before long, it seemed like we were back in Tennessee traveling the river system. It was an absolutely gorgeous day of cruising. The water started to change from brackish to fresh along the way, and as a result, the dolphins disappeared completely. But the osprey's and eagles were out in great numbers. We probably saw at least 5 eagles, and easily 50 osprey, It was a very pleasant change, and we'll enjoy it for a bit more when we depart from our marina here in Myrtle Beach.We caught up to our friends on Corkscrew, California Lady, and Act III, and find ourselves in a really nice, quiet, peaceful setting at Osprey Marina. We are going to camp out here for a week or so, allowing us to get some projects done...and also permit Sandy to take a trek back to Atlanta with Lola to get some additional tests run at our "home" vet. It's nice to be here with friends, and we are enjoying it immensely. It is isolated here, but Corkscrew rented a car, and we are all partaking of it as needed to get stuff done.
One highlight is tonight! Jeff from Act III has a few of his band mates coming to visit, and we are going to be treated to a small "concert" here. We expect to hear many of our old favorites, and enjoy great company, song, and likely quite a few laughs.
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| Some of our day, we saw portions of the river that were developed. As you can see from the level of the floating docks, it was towards low tide, and there is still a 4 to 5 foot fluctuation in this area. |
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| It is very typical to see extraordinarily long walkways out to the docks here. They have to build them out this far to find enough water to dock a boat. |
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| And then most of the day, we saw this out of our pilot house windows...gorgeous river travel. |
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| A milestone for Sandrobber....we recently crossed 2000 hours on our Cummins engine. In the first 14 years of this boats life, it traveled for 1400 hours. Now in the 2 years that we have owned it, we have added another 600 hours. |
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| Last night we had a special treat amidst some rain showers at Osprey Marina. A full double rainbow...simply amazing! |
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