Roughly halfway to Florida!
Today's travel would end up with us on the Wacamaw River. On the last trip, we had problems anchoring on the Wacamaw River on both directions. The river is deep, and so are the creeks. And the bottom goes from deep to nothing in the blink of an eye as you approach shore.
So it was with particular anticipation that I set today's destination to Ospery Marina, just south of Myrtle Beach and in the beginnings of the Wacamaw. This marina was highly recommended to us by our friend Ron Harbin, who made this trip last year, and stayed there.
We left the Calibash Creek anchorage at first light, a few hours ahead of low tide, and had no trouble getting out. Once back on the ICW, we noted a large "mini-cruise-ship" coming in the Little River inlet. This is one of the two "Big M Casino" cruise ships, floating casinos that take "cruises to nowhere" solely for gambling. Soon, we passed by their dock.
The trip from Calibash to Ospery takes you through the long straight and narrow portion of the ICW that transits Myrtle Beach. This includes the infamous "rockpile", a section where erosion has enlarged the apparent width of the channel, but left an underwater "overhang" of harder rock that juts out, just waiting to slice into the hull of an unwary boat that strays too far off of the center. Occasional diamond shaped signs remind of the danger.
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| Beware The Rockpile |
The strong current produces large eddies that constantly deflect the boat left and then right. The constant level of hyperalertness required to hold a straight path is quite fatiguing.
Once through the rockpile, there are seemingly endless miles of mega-mansions on the high bank, with elaborate stonework terraces. This one looks like it incorporates enough stone to build the Great Pyramid!
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| Conspicuous Consumption at its Finest |
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| A Heron along the Shores of the Wacamaw |
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| Dolce Vita Secure in Her Slip |
When we went in to register, they told us that there had been no cancellations, but the dockmaster had managed to fit us in and we could stay two nights! This was typical of the great treatment we received at this marina. Their rates are astoundingly low, and they give you a free goody bag with breakfast goodies, a jar of specialty jelly, and various trinkets. Their lounge is spacious & clean. They have a free breakfast in the morning and coffee going all day, and a laundry and bathhouse available 24/7. They even provided a list of local restaurants and vendors, including one pizza place that would deliver!
Later, while Joan was waiting for a load of laundry to finish, she started chatting with one of the other boaters who looked a little familiar. Turned out it was Lyle Ward of S/V Sunbird, who used to keep his boat three slips down from us back at Oak Harbor in Maryland! Small world!
In the evening, we decided to be a little decadent, and ordered a pizza that was delivered out on the dock directly to our boat! That was a first!
Life is good.
The following day, we stayed in bed past 9:30 (what a luxury!) and then spent the day in the lounge catching up on blog posts.
Joanie made a delicious dinner of Lemon Chicken & Broccoli with White Zinfandel. Tomorrow,
we head out for Georgetown, SC a short day of about 25 nm. We're hoping to get in eerly enough to explore the town a little before nightfall.
Life continues to be good.
Of course, I'm glad you stayed at Osprey and it all worked out well. This is where I had met up with MY Joan so I was there almost 2 weeks. The price after 2 nights goes from $1.00 per foot to $.025 per foot - that's $8 per day!! Also, the electric was metered so my total bill was about $10 for the electric!
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