Barefoot Landing to Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, South Carolina

Once upon a time, several years ago, the free "Barefoot Landing" pier existed so boaters could visit the shopping complex. It consisted of a long floating pier with a few cleats and no other connections.  It was a free, first come first served, service of "Barefoot Landing" and boaters were welcomed to come and shop.  It belonged to the owner of the shopping complex and they, I suspect, were happy to have boaters there spending money.  Boaters were cautioned that their stay was limited to three nights, but we suspect noone was really checking. The complex was a charming place.  There were many upscale specialty shops to browse, a wide range of restaurants to satisfy hearty appetites, several night clubs including "House of Blues" where there was always a band to entertain, and finally  "The Alabama Theater" where Gaylord Entertainment, the company that manages the "Grand Ole Opera" in Nashville TN produces several professional musical shows each year. 

Things have changed over the years.  While the number of restaurants have seemed to increase, many of the specialty shops have closed and have been replaced by carnival like side shows.  There's now a hall of mirrors attraction and a animal show where kids can have their picture taken with a baby tiger.  Also, the complex owner has sold the pier to two brothers who now operate it a "Barefoot Landing Marina". 

We were very pleased with the marina, both the location and the service.  The brothers offer attractive overnight rates which includes free power.  While there's no showers or pump-out available, their service is excellent.  One brother met our boat to help with the lines and offered to help in any way possible.  Later Rosa noticed that he left to pick up a couple from a grocery store, and inquired if we could also get a ride there.  Sure enough, he drove Rosa to a nearby store this morning and then returned to pick her up later.  Thank you "Mark" for the help.  We will be recommending your marina!

With better planning we would have stayed another night but prior arrangements had a package waiting for us at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club about 12 N Miles north.  When Rosa returned she quickly stored the groceries and we left Barefoot Landing to cruise with the current to the town of New River SC.  We cruised through one of the more dangerous sections of the ICW.  Two reasons.  First, is the "rock pile".  Second is the "Little River swing bridge". 

The rock pile is a section of the ICW, about 8 miles, where the ditch was blasted out of the concrete hare Coquina. It was dug during World War II and the engineers left large sections of the material along both sides of the waterway.  There are many tales of damaged props and pierced fiberglass bottoms when skippers ignored the guidelines to travel this section at a higher tide lever and stay as close to the center as feasible.  Today was our second cruise through the rock pile and we were careful  Later today when the tide was lower we understand a 22' wide catamaran trawler became grounded on a rock and a BoatUS tow was dispatched to help. 

I wrote about our difficulty with the Little River swing bridge in November.  Again today, a bridge that's advertised to be open-on-demand, the operator made us wait in a strong current that was pushing Surprise towards the bridge.  At the beginning of the wait there was a moderate amount of traffic crossing the bridge, but towards the end there was no cars for several minutes, and he still delayed the opening.  Yes, I had to turn the boat around to minimize the chance of an accident.  Fortunately,  I'm now more experienced at managing the boat in 2 knots of current. 

We arrived here at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club (MBYC) around 12:55 PM.  Our package was waiting, so we will spend the afternoon paying bills before having dinner in their private dining room - the Officers Club.   The weather reports are good for tomorrow so we are planning to head out towards Southport. 

Next - April 18, 2008 - Myrtle Beach Yacht Club to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina