Friday, November. 8th

Cast-off time was 7:30 from the dock at Osprey Marina, Myrtle Beach, SC.  We planned a 30 mile trip to Georgetown,  SC,  a 40+ mile trip to South Santee River Anchorage , West, and a 60+ day to the Awendaw Creek Anchorage…..just in case the weather turned for the worse or we moved at a quicker than anticipated pace.  Plus, we’re finding out that current, tide, and shallow areas might hinder our progress, so we might not move as quickly as we’d like!

We led today out of Osprey Marina.  They packed so many boats in, that it was very skinny backing the boat out of the dock and maneuvering between the boats tied at the docks and shore.  Once we motored out of the Osprey channel and got back into the ICW, it very much resembled the swamps….narrow dark water, cypress trees growing out of the water, pine trees behind the cypress, and clumps of Spanish Moss hanging from their branches.  The wind was at our backs, out of the north, so it was a decent ride all the way until the ICW widened.

 

This was right before Georgetown, SC.  From this point we picked up current that was flowing against us with 2-3 foot waves.  The Lafayette Bridge at Georgetown was a fixed bridge  so we

had no delay there.  After the bridge, we really had to carefully tend to spotting the day markers of the ICW versus the day markers from the Winyah Bay to Georgetown.  Along with all of this confusion, the navaids reversed twice in this area!  We were careful and got through this section without any problems other than the current was still against us.  It really put a damper on our progress today!!

Each day is different from all the others so, on to the Estherville Mirim Creek Canal.  The only caution along this stretch is a ferry crossing in this narrow canal.  The South Island Ferry takes people to the eastern shore which is  preserved as the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center Heritage Preserve.  He use to be the owner of the Red Sox and donated this land to South Carolina.   Other than that, there wasn’t much going on in this canal.

Once out of the Estherville Canal, we made a quick decision to anchor at the South Santee River, West.   We felt if we tried to push hard to get to the Awendaw Creek anchorage,  we would still be getting there around dusk.  We motored up the Santee and set our anchor at around 2:30 in the afternoon.  There already was one small sailboat  anchored and shortly Willowway and Dancing with the Wind pulled in...and now there's 5!

We’ve gotten into the pattern of having sundowners and snacks on each other’s boat, planning our next day,  and…..reliving the day on the water!   What a great anchorage in amongst the low-country.  The sunset was gorgeous!!  What a great day on the water!!

Happy Hours II  at sunset!