Heading to ...a Haulout

5-15-2013

Since we knew the water would be shallow in “that spot” again, we pulled up anchor and left before the current could move us over it this morning. At 6:15, we backed out of the anchorage and started our day.

It’s hard to say if we had more current with us or more current against us. We would fight it some and then be pushed by it others. There are so many places for the water to enter from the ocean that it would be impossible to go with the current all the time. Sometimes we would be with the current on one side of an inlet, and be against it on the other side.

This sad boat looks worse every time we come by. It's been here since our first trip on the ICW/

There are several sad boat here.

You can see the difference in the water as the tide comes in.

Oh, we were attacked by horseflies again. They were so bad that we came downstairs to drive. There’s something about South Carolina that the horseflies like. Maybe it’s the smelly paper mills.

There are a lot of boats heading north. In an hour’s time, we were passed by 15 boats. But that sail boat didn’t catch us, HA-HA. We were a little concerned since most were heading to Georgetown. We didn’t want to get here and not have any room.

These 7 boats passed us one after another.

Ferry on Estherville/Minim Creek

Paper mill

Looking toward the marina.

Our beautiful anchorage! That's the paper mill, another factory, and the recycling plant.

Our anchorage. The yellow line is a reminder to us. The red markers are on the right when you come in from the ocean. Once you move out of the entrance, the red is on the left and the greens are on the right, as you see in the picture.

But we came around to the “scenic” area, where the big factory and recycling plant are located. No one else wants to come here. It can be smelly and it is definitely noisy. Well, that’s ok as long as we have a good anchorage. We would much rather be here than at the waterfront in a crowded anchorage.

We took the dinghy to town and walked around. Guess what we found? McDonald's! Yes, its been a while since we've eaten at a McD. We enjoyed our "hot and spicy" and sweet tea! We took a picture of Shay and his meal and sent it to FFF. 

Yummy, hot and spicy! FFF, wish you were here!

Guess what we saw in the water today? An alligator. Shay asked if that was a long floating in the water or an alligator. We watched it and couldn’t tell until got line up so we could see its tail moving in the water. It was headed for shore. Hope it wasn’t hungry!

Yes, that's a gator!

Shay spent all day researching, planning, and interneting, and making lists. He wants to do a bottom job on the boat this summer, so he's researching paint. He has several things he wants to get done, so he's planning that. He is looking online to get suggestions about paint and stuff. He is making a list to make sure he gets it all done.

We have really smelled the paper mill today. The wind must be blowing from that direction. unlucky us.

We took another walk around Georgetown. It is a beautiful place. The houses are a mixture of  old ones almost 300 years old and new one that look like they have been there almost that long. The streets are lined with a mixture of palm trees and live oak. There are lots of shops and  restaurants. It all adds up to a  pretty place to visit.

We plan on leaving here tomorrow but the final destination hasn't been made yet. We need to think about it some more.

Shay took the dinghy and hand-held depth sounder around the anchorage this evening. He was looking for deep water. He said he stopped because he saw a gator in the water and decided he wasn't going to put his hand in the water anymore.

We got everything ready to leave tomorrow. The anchorage book told us to leave at low tide to catch a push going up the Waccamaw River. We hope we have it calculated correctly and can get a push. We are leaving a lot later than we usually do, 10:00am. We are usually moving by 6:30 most of the time.

Beautiful sunset

It seems strange to not be hurrying to leave this morning! We got up, worked on routes, called family, and checked our emails before we left. It seems strange to be doing all this instead of traveling. Most mornings we are "on the road again" long before now.

We had a great day on the Waccamaw. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's beautiful! We saw a few logs floating in the water, but that's not unusual here.

We saw lots of nesting birds. I'm not sure what kind of birds they are. Maybe you can tell from the picture.

What kind of bird is this?

We've talked about this before. If it's in the middle, how do you know which side to go on?

A pretty beach, but remember, there are gators in this water!

We say lots of turtles sunning on logs. Hope they don't turn into appetizers for the gators!


Entering Osprey Marina

We got to our marina about 4 pm. We got some diesel and then went into a slip. Do you have any idea how long it's been since we did that? Not since our slip in Morehead City, last fall! But Shay did a great job and made us look like we know what we're doing.

Then we spent over 2 hours washing the boat. Do you have any idea how long it's been since we did that? Not since Morehead City. Yes, its been that long. When we were at Marathon, we didn't want to use the water and then have to buy more. In the Bahamas, we were on water rations. Shay did clean the boat a little when it rained, but today is the best cleaning it's had since October. We are bad people! So when we leave in the morning, we will be full of water and have a cleaner boat! Yeah! We are tired so we're turning in early.

We got started about 6:35 this morning. We have a long way to go and want to get started early. The river was so calm. You could see the clouds reflected in the water.

Calm water

We went by miles and miles of big, expensive, beautiful houses. Each year there are more and more along the waterway. We are getting near Myrtle Beach, SC.

This house looks like it belongs in the Bahamas.

 I have talked about the “Rockpile” before. It is an 18 mile area of the ICW that is lined with rocks along the bank. When the tide is up, the rocks are under water. We’ve got to pay attention when we go thru here. We would not want to have problems and get onto them.


The chartbook makes sure you know about the "Rockpile".

At high tide all this is under water, so you must stay in the channel.

These signs are on the waterway, alerting you to the danger ahead.

Chico, the bandito! Shay wears this to keep the sun off his face.

We have seen the “vortex” before. Shay thinks it has to do with Doppler weather. I think its aliens.

He's looking for dinner.

I have suddenly developed a craving for fried shrimp. Could it be caused by the fact that we keep seeing shrimp boats?

Again WHY?

Ok, these people can say, “Oh yeah, we live beside the lighthouse.” Easy directions.

Just after we passed these casino boats, we heard one announcing he was leaving the dock and heading out to sea. Get you gambling money ready!



Redneck trailer park still there.

Shallotte Inlet. This can be a tricky place. We have to watch the markers very closely. The bottom is constantly changing and the markers are being moved to indicate this. So what you see on you chart may not be what you see in front of you.

Yeah, we are back in NC now! Getting closer and closer to Mount Airy, which means family and friends!

Shay stomped on the fly bridge floor, which is our signal to come up. When I stuck my head out the back door, he told me to bring the camera and come up. When I got there I saw about 10-12 parachutes coming down! We were near an airport and they were landing. It looked so pretty. Like ornaments suspended in the sky.

The little dots are parachutes.

We checked currents around Southport for this afternoon and tomorrow and then Cape Fear for this afternoon and decided we’d get a better “push” if we went all the way to Wrightsville Beach today. If we’d stopped at Southport, we would need to leave later than we wanted to tomorrow.

So we got here about 7:30 pm, yes a 13 hour day. We had a good trip and got a lot of help from the current. We don’t get lucky often, so we decided we’d take advantage of it while we could.

Since it’s the weekend, there are lots of fishing boats, pleasure boats, and jet skies on the water. We have to be very careful with all the traffic.

We have also seen lots of dredge equipment on the waterway. Looks like they’re doing “spring cleaning” on the ICW. Moving all the sand that the current has brought in.

Carolina Beach State Park. We stayed here on "Miss Lauren".

Fishing in Snow's Cut.

Carolina Beach

Different

Fun on the ICW

Looks like this is the place to be on a Saturday afternoon.

Here we are, again.

We called Lauren to make late dinner plans, but she didn’t want to wait that late, so we will see her tomorrow. We plan on spending a few days here to visit, to take our car to Morehead City, and run some errands. Remember, our can has been here since Terry drove it here when he visited us in Marathon.

We spent a great day with Lauren. We ate a quick lunch at McD, yes, “hot and spicy”. Then we went phone shopping. Remember, my phone died in the Bahamas. We didn’t make any decisions, just window shopping, I guess.

Next to Walmart, do you have any idea how long it’s been since we’ve been there? It’s been since mid February. No Walmart in the Keyes or Bahamas. We had a few things we wanted to pick up and looked for some things for Lauren. She found several “teacher dresses” and a few other things.

We were going to eat at Tower Seven, a Tex-Mex place we like, but the wait was too long. We ate at Dockside instead and enjoyed our meal. Lauren couldn’t decide between the fish taco and shrimp po’boy. So I got the shrimp po’boy, since I wanted fried shrimp and we shared.

Back to the boat to get settled in for the night. We really enjoyed spending the time with Lauren. Oh, she had given me my Mother’s Day present. She made candy. White chocolate, pistachios, dried cherries and strawberries what’s not to like? Yummy.  Shay and I enjoyed some of it before we went to bed. Rich, sweet, yum. Thanks Lauren!

It looks like a yucky day, with dark clouds all around. Lauren has to work today, so maybe it will clear off by the time she gets off work. We had some drizzles but it was a nicer day than I thought it would be.

Beautiful houses along Bank Channel

Dark Clouds

 

Shay has done lots of internet research about bottom paints, depth sounders, and boatyards. He has spent hours and hours making notes trying to decide which products he wants to use. We spent one afternoon visiting 2 boatyard in the area.

We’ve seen Lauren each day after she gets off work. We had pizza on the boat one night and ate at Tower 7 the next. She brought me a birthday cake the night we ate pizza. I asked her if she was trying to fatten me up. It was a lemon cake with raspberry and white chocolate filling. Need I say more? We really enjoy spending time with her and getting caught up.

Happy Birthday to me!

Make a wish and blow out the candle while they sing to me!

She looks sneaky!

This boat has really strange masts!

Our poor flag.


We bought this flag last year when we left Morehead City. It looks like its been thru a war. We'll get another one when we get back to Morehead City.

We have decided to haul out the boat in a yard near Wrightsville Beach. We made arrangements to be there at 9:00 am 5-22-2013. That means we leave here at 6:00. After we get the boat out, we will get things ready  and then head home. Yes, tomorrow night we plan on being in Mt. Airy. It will be great to see family and friends again.

We had dinner with Lauren on the boat. I made pasta with homemade alfredo sauce and Shay grilled blackened shrimp. It was good. After dinner, we took our car to the boatyard and Lauren brought us back. We had Dairy Queen on the way back. We have enjoyed our time with Lauren and will miss her.

We got up to a drizzly morning, but we left at 6:00 am anyway. We need to be there early, before the wind gets blowy.

Rainy morning to be leaving.



Looking back at Wrightsville Beach. We will be back.

Looking down the ICW.

We got to the bridge at Wrightsville Beach at about 6:30. It's an open on demand before 7:00 am so we requested an opening. We were told ok in a few minutes. It took 15 minutes for him to open the bridge. So much for "On Demand".

Slow opening bridge.

We had a good trip. We were running with the current most of the way! We don't do that very often. We got to the yard early and there was a boat in the way. So were "played stay in place" for about 20 minutes waiting for the guys to move the boat. Finally they were ready for us to come in.

Of course, it was intimidating. We're always nervous going into a new dock. But as always, Shay made it look easy. They got up picked up and then onto blocks and started pressure washing the boat. We got our things into the car and left around noon.

We had to wait for this boat to leave the dock. so we could get in.

Ok, now he's out.

Heading in

Looks small for this angle.

 

Ok. make sure everything looks OK.

OK, up on this side and down on that side!

It's out! Looks big!

Pressure washing

Captain Shay putting things in order!

Here we are!

We are excited to be heading back home. We look forward to seeing family and friends. Shay will be back in a few days, but I will be staying with my dad for a while. Shay gets to do all the hard work-- painting, cleaning, waxing-- while I get to visit with daddy.