WacheWache Marina to Barefoot Landing (Myrtle Beach), South Carolina

It was a beautiful cool morning when we left the boat to use the marina showers.  There were few clouds and little wind, so we focused on several chores.  I rinsed the salt from the decks and cabin sides we picked up yesterday, filled the water tanks and checked everything in the engine room.  We were ready to cruise by 0930 and began to depart.

Sure enough, almost simultaneously with disconnecting the first dock line the winds began and were when we began to disconnect lines to the dock the high winds returned blowing Surprise's bow away from the pier towards the other side of a fairway.  This was one of the rare occasions where I had to use the bow thruster.  As I backed away from the pier I used the bow thruster to steer the boat.  The wind pushing the bow seemed to amplify the boats normal tendency to back-to-starboard and I was able to compensate with the thruster. Once we were in the fairway I just let the wind blow us out of the marina. 

Cypress forests border the ICW/Waccamaw river and they do provide excellent protection from the wind, except when winding river twists to where we are motoring directly towards 20+ knot winds.  We meandered up the river and experienced long periods where there was almost no sense of wind and then suddenly turned into wind and choppy water.  Yes, there were sometimes two foot waves along the river.  Fortunately we were being pushed by an incoming tide and those periods of high wind passed quickly. 

The dug canal that connects the Waccamaw River to the Little River inlet begins at Enterprise Landing, a bend in the river near Socastee SC.  It was begun during World War II  and at about 60 miles is probably the longest canal in the ICW system.  It's unique in that there are few natural creeks that drain into the ditch.  There are however, several shorter canals that connect the ICW to lagoons.  Two were originally created when quaries were dug to mine Chiquna, a natural material formed when tiny hard shell sea creatures were compressed.  It was used to build forts and other structures when the Americas were first settled.  We stopped in one such lagoon to purchase fuel.   

Next - April 17, 2008 - Barefoot Landing to Myrtle Beach Yache Club, South Carolina