It is amazing trip to see the east coast from the water at 5 knots an hour! A very special part of the Intracoastal Waterway is the Waccamaw River so we decided after much discussion to motor inside so we could see it. We also wanted to go by the beach Islands in NC where we still have some property. It was truly worth the time to do this lovely trip. The river is wide and deep all the way, and such a very different river than we have been on before. There is a gradual shift from wide open space along the shore to deep swampy terrain with wonderful cypress trees.
Osprey nest all the way along and were feeding babies we could even hear crying over the engine and when we stopped. We anchored in an oxbow along the way overnight which was still and tranquil. The water is very brown and was a mirror as we had our morning coffee on deck. The reflections as we went along were spectacular, smooth and then rippled with the gentle wake.
We transitioned out of this section to the canals in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach with intersting homes and huge complexes such as Grand Dunes and Barefoot Landings. They both have wonderful new huge marinas. We didn't stop but were able to use their internet as we went by... thanks. We passed Little River and the harbor we have stayed as we continued on the way to the Beach Islands in North Carolina.
We came to the Sunset Island Pontoon Bridge over the ICW just after 2 PM. We could see it opened, but just couldn't reach it in time. It only opens on the hour and NOT in extreme low tide. We knew the tide was going out, but we still had 3 hours until it was at low. The Bridgemaster told us we had to wait an hour so we set the anchor and relaxed. Pulled it up and headed toward the bridge which SLOWLY opened. No one went through until they blew a loud siren and then we all took turns going through. When it closed they announced in a US Coast Guard Advisory that it would not re-open until at least 6PM due to the extreme low tides! Lucky we got through. The waterway through these islands is particularly interesting for us as we have spent a lot of time here on summer vacations and still have property on the Shallot River which has a dock on the ICW.
It was a delight for us to finally go through on the water even though it wasn't deep enough to stop. The channel had been dredged in April so we had adequate depths along the way at the inlets where it shoals all the time but even so there were places we just squeaked through. The afternoon was fun as we saw lots of familiar sights including a house we had rented with all our kids and my parents a few years ago right on the end of Oak Island, and the lighthouses at Ft. Caswell and in the distance on Bald Head Island. We stopped at South Harbor Marina for the night, an unexpected treat.
In the AM we left very early as we were going to Figure Eight Island past Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach to visit some long-time friends. As we headed up the Cape Fear River we were in the middle of a rainstorm . The winds were not bad, but there was lightning. The engine just stopped suddenly as we were at a narrow part with restricted water on one side (an armament depot) and very shallow water on the other. We put up the staysail (the small one in front) and the jib (the big one in front) and tried to sail back into the channel that the current was pushing us out of into the shallows. That tactic didn't work so we dropped anchor in 3.5 feet and called Tow Boat US. They came as the rains stopped and brought us back to Southport Marina so we could figure out why the engine stopped. Well we did! Rain water running down the scuppers will go right into the fuel tank if the lid is left off! Did I mention we had fueled at South Harbor Marina?? This is another adventure in sailing on Wind Spirit, and another hard lesson learned, which we think might be somewhat expensive.
Our friends joined us for dinner here last night at Fishy Fishy...yummy. Whenever they are able to finish up draining the fuel tanks so we can refuel, we will be on our way north again. Hopefully we will still be able to stop at Figure Eight tonight. In the meantime the laundry is done.
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