Farewell to South Carolina

After Georgetown we traveled about 22 miles on the Waccamaw River portion of the ICW. We’re not sure what causes it but the water here is the color of tea from the tannins in the cypress trees. You see a lot of boats with discoloration on the bow which Paul calls a “brown mustache”. We went through a lot of natural area and saw many ospreys nesting on the channel markers. This one was not happy to have his space violated! (note: the channel markers on the ICW have either a yellow square or triangle to distinguish them from other channel markers)

After the Waccamaw we were on the part of the ICW known as “The Ditch”, it’s very straight and narrow with no other rivers or creeks flowing into it. This was an odd sight – cable cars crossing the waterway carrying golfers and their clubs to play the holes on the other side of the ICW!

As we got near Myrtle Beach we were back in civilization again, even saw a McDonalds just off the waterway, a marked contrast to what we’d seen earlier in the day.

This is the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club. We thought the lighthouse was pretty impressive.

We got a slip for the night at the Barefoot Resort Yacht Club in North Myrtle Beach. Supposedly they have the largest swimming pool in South Carolina at their resort – too bad it isn’t heated! We had dinner at the Dock Siders Restaurant at the complex. The food and the live music were both enjoyable.

This was our last night in South Carolina. The license plates for the State claim “Smiling Faces and Beautiful Places” and I’d say that’s fairly accurate. We saw a lot more Beneteaus around here than back home (FYI that’s what type of boat we have). Beneteau has a plant in Marion, SC which we toured a couple of years ago. Weather update: average daily temps are mid-80s and mid-60s at night – very pleasant.

Here is the rather exotic looking State Flag of South Carolina. Col. William Moultrie was asked to design a flag for the use of the S.C. troups in the Fall of 1775. He chose a blue background, which matched their uniforms, and a crescent, which was worn as a silver emblem on their caps. The palmetto was added after S.C. seceded from the Union and needed a national flag.

On Saturday we entered North Carolina about mid-morning after crossing the Calabash River. The ICW is very scenic here. There are still marshy areas here and there but it’s mostly woodland. Wildlife sightings: we saw two deer swimming across the ICW and saw dolphin for the first time in quite awhile. We got stuck waiting 45 minutes for a zero clearance pontoon bridge that only opened on the hour – every boat had to wait for that one. There was a light rain most of the day but when it got rather nasty we decided to get a slip at the marina in Southport, North Carolina.