Month: December 2024

After that meal last night, we both slept soundly.  Up to sunshine and temps in the 30s, we quickly got the boat underway and headed for Isle of Palm.  This is an area on the ICW just north and east of Charleston.  We had a pleasant 52-mile trip through some of South Carolina’s low country.  We also passed through a very shallow stretch of the ICW at McCellanville SC — at low tide 4.5 MLLW is generally recorded.  Luckily we passed it 3 hours earlier and had plenty of water.  A later part of the trip near the Isle of Palm, at low tide, caused us concern but we made it through.  The rest of the trip was easy.  The temperatures even climbed into the 60s for a while.  We saw the results of another boating issue along the route and more homes.  Carey even found a tower that excited her after a day of boring marshland views.  Dinner on board and a quiet evening.

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Barefoot Landing Marina was a quiet stop and we were comfortably underway for Georgetown, SC at 8 AM.  This 52-mile trip is always a pleasant short trip through canals and woodlands as the Waccamaw River winds its way south to Georgetown.  One picture I missed posting yesterday was the tourist cruise ship that had been decorated and participated in last night’s boat parade.

We cruised at a comfortable 10 mph for just over 5 hours and pulled into our slip at Harborwalk Marina.  We noticed a building spree as new homes continued to be built along the waterway.  People love the water and live in all sorts of homes — see some below.  It was a quiet and uneventful trip and we pass on a few pictures.  Georgetown is one of our favorite stops and it didn’t disappoint.  We walked through the beautiful holiday-decorated historic waterfront town on our way to a scrumptious dinner.   Delightful day and evening!  Now headed to the Isle of Palms just above Charleston harbor, meandering thru the lowlands on our way.

We slept in today — up at 7 AM and underway an hour later.  It was 31 degrees on deck but we got the electric cable and lines onboard and were off to Myrtle Beach.  It was a 72 statue mile trip through the lower portion of the Cape Fear River, then two known shallow sections of the ICW that have taken some paint off the hulls of many boats (Lockwood’s Folley and Shallotte Inlet in NC).  Our schedule indicated going through these two areas at near low tide.  What fun!  We made it through — and I wish I could show in photos what it’s like twisting and turning through a shallow inlet from the ocean as the sands beneath the water keep changing.  A fun event.  After these events we passed through “the Rock Pile,” a section of the ICW that surprised the government developing the ICW.  This was an approximate five- mile section of the ICW that was solid rock.  The digging caused added cost and time so it has less width than the rest of the ICW and on the shoreline heavy rocks can catch a less than watchful Captain navigating this section.  As we closed in on Myrtle Beach we noticed preparations for an ICW Christmas Lighted Boat Parade in North Myrtle Beach.  Over 50 boats participated.  We moored past the parade route so we only saw a couple of boats preparing and one coming past after the parade.  We ate aboard and tried to clean the boat with no water on the docks.  But, this morning, we were delighted to find the star of the parade, the Barefoot Queen paddle boat, moored behind us.   Wonderfully decorated!  Moving on, we’re headed to Georgetown, one of our favorite spots and where we’ve spent Christmas aboard in the past.   Below are some pictures from today.