Monday, April 23, 2007
L-O-N-G Day from Georgetown (M 403) to Southport, NC (M309)
Monday, April 23. Just some notes from yesterday's trek before we cast off again. We really put the petal to the metal (so to speak) yesterday, and we made it all the way to Southport, NC. It was a L-O-N-G day, let me tell you. If we weren't so eager to get up to the beach house, we would have stopped earlier. Plus cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon meant that there were a zillion speed boats out.
- The Waccamaw River is pretty, with lots of cypress trees and even wildflowers on each side of the channel. There was a good bit of debris in one long stretch of the channel, including a few nasty logs. It reminded us of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. We passed several Looper boats, which we hope to meet again.
- We did stop at Osprey Marine (M 373) for fuel, and it was $2.28 per gallon with Boat U.S. Discount. We saw diesel advertised at $2.48 later.- At M 365, we are in "the ditch" -- not much to see, except plenty of houses and potential development. Our eyes were on the depth indicators and the markers.
- As we approached Myrtle Beach (M 360), we started seeing much more development, which eventually became condo blight. We weren't so thrilled with Myrtle Beach and happily passed on by. At some point there was a statue of a girl waving by the waterway. I waved back. She just stared at all the boats waking other boats or being waked.
- We saw LOTS of weekend traffic. (Including hot, fast boats with hot, fast blonde babes in the back seat.) "Wake? What wake? I'm cool!" We had to laugh at two couples in a long, sleek yellow Cigarette boat (or was it a Fountain -- not sure). They raced their boat up and down, back and forth on the Grand Strand. Eventually they found friends in a similar boat, and they joined the fun, which wasn't so fun for other boaters in the channel.
- We got through the notorious Rock Pile (lots of boats hit hard coquina rocks on the bottom in this shallow stretch, but if you are careful, there is no problem), Shallote Inlet, and Lockwood Folly Inlet ok, but we were watching the markers and depths really carefully. Boats and more boaters were out on the ICW as we passed Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle, and Holden Beach. Cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon (it was a beautiful spring day), Bob had to toot his horn twice in one day for the first time ever. One runabout was heading straight toward us in the narrow channel, while the driver was rubbernecking at one of the inlets. At another time, two little Ski-Doos were just sitting, talking in the middle of the narrow channel at low tide. They were clueless that it mattered.
By 5:30 p.m. we ended up at a marina in Southport, NC. We would have stopped earlier, but there wasn't a good place. We're glad we made it here. From the Southport Marina, we could walk to another pretty village and enjoy dinner at Fishy Fishy Cafe. This marina is undergoing renovation, but it is fine. Southport is another one of those lovely, quaint, historic towns. Bald Head island would have been alternative stop, but the Emerald Isle magnet is drawing us north!
Pictures later. Time to move again.
- The Waccamaw River is pretty, with lots of cypress trees and even wildflowers on each side of the channel. There was a good bit of debris in one long stretch of the channel, including a few nasty logs. It reminded us of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. We passed several Looper boats, which we hope to meet again.
- We did stop at Osprey Marine (M 373) for fuel, and it was $2.28 per gallon with Boat U.S. Discount. We saw diesel advertised at $2.48 later.- At M 365, we are in "the ditch" -- not much to see, except plenty of houses and potential development. Our eyes were on the depth indicators and the markers.
- As we approached Myrtle Beach (M 360), we started seeing much more development, which eventually became condo blight. We weren't so thrilled with Myrtle Beach and happily passed on by. At some point there was a statue of a girl waving by the waterway. I waved back. She just stared at all the boats waking other boats or being waked.
- We saw LOTS of weekend traffic. (Including hot, fast boats with hot, fast blonde babes in the back seat.) "Wake? What wake? I'm cool!" We had to laugh at two couples in a long, sleek yellow Cigarette boat (or was it a Fountain -- not sure). They raced their boat up and down, back and forth on the Grand Strand. Eventually they found friends in a similar boat, and they joined the fun, which wasn't so fun for other boaters in the channel.
- We got through the notorious Rock Pile (lots of boats hit hard coquina rocks on the bottom in this shallow stretch, but if you are careful, there is no problem), Shallote Inlet, and Lockwood Folly Inlet ok, but we were watching the markers and depths really carefully. Boats and more boaters were out on the ICW as we passed Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle, and Holden Beach. Cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon (it was a beautiful spring day), Bob had to toot his horn twice in one day for the first time ever. One runabout was heading straight toward us in the narrow channel, while the driver was rubbernecking at one of the inlets. At another time, two little Ski-Doos were just sitting, talking in the middle of the narrow channel at low tide. They were clueless that it mattered.
By 5:30 p.m. we ended up at a marina in Southport, NC. We would have stopped earlier, but there wasn't a good place. We're glad we made it here. From the Southport Marina, we could walk to another pretty village and enjoy dinner at Fishy Fishy Cafe. This marina is undergoing renovation, but it is fine. Southport is another one of those lovely, quaint, historic towns. Bald Head island would have been alternative stop, but the Emerald Isle magnet is drawing us north!
Pictures later. Time to move again.
Labels: From serene to crowded to lovely again
