Day 13...Hazzard Marine to Osprey Marina, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012

      I promised to tell you about Hazzard Marine in Georgetown the other day.  It was a very clean and quiet marina with an extremely friendly and helpful Dock Master named Susan Peterson.  You know with that name she has to be wonderful.  She went out of her way to do as much as possible to make us feel at home.  In our opinion, this small marina is worthy of a 5 star rating in any of the guides.  We hope to stop there on our way home.

Susan Peterson, Dock Master Extraordinaire

     

     When we left the marina at 8:05 a.m., we motored along with sporadic homes and docks on the starboard side and trees and marsh on the port side.  There was more boat traffic on the water today than we’ve seen on the Intracoastal since we left Jacksonville.

Port

Starboard

     Then we began traveling the Waccamaw (River)(if you’re a local you don’t add the river part according to Richard.  I’ll tell you about him later).  It was so serene.  It was like floating down the river enjoying the luxury of just relaxing.  There were trees right down to the waterline with no bank at all.  There were cypress trees dipping their feet in the water next to patches of hyacinths.  The water was so calm with only tiny ripples from the wind running across it.  It was a day of peace and tranquility.

Richard in front of  the office

    

Can you find Traveller tucked behind the light blue tug?

     When we arrived at Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach, Richard helped us into the slip.  He was so friendly from the beginning.  When I went to check in, we were given a “goody” bag.  It was filled with cheese and crackers, a few sweet pastries, and quite a few items like a whistle, a key fob, and a note pad with the Osprey logo on them.  They know the way to my heart.  The marina was a clean, quiet place to spend the night.  We were glad to have shore power so we could run the heater to ward off the projected close to freezing temperature.  When I went to take my shower, I asked Richard about the Waccamaw.  He took a small chart and patiently explained that south of the marina the Waccamaw split off the Intracoastal on our port side.  He said that it was a pretty trip up the river to Conway, S.C. if we ever have the time.  It is people like Susan and Richard that make traveling enjoyable.  We have met some really nice people like Ivy and Bob on KARMA.  Retired schoolteachers have to stick together.

     We traveled 32 miles in 5 hours 40 minutes with the tide against us most of the way.

     We called Mary (our son-in-law Joel’s Mom) and her husband Bruce to let them know we made it to Myrtle Beach.  They came to see the boat and took us back to their house for dinner.  I’m sure their cute, fuzzy white poodle Gizmo would want us to tell the grandkids HI for him.  He is just the sweetest thing.  We enjoyed talking to Mary and Bruce to get some ideas for places to visit along the Hudson.  The grilled chicken was a real hit.  Mary showed me some beautiful curtains with lighthouses on them that it took her 3 years to crochet.  I admire her persistence and patience.  We had a very nice visit.  Hopefully we can stop again on the way back.  

Mary and Susan

Day 12...Georgetown, S. C.

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012

      This morning Gary and I walked to the Kudzu Bakery and bought cinnamon buns.  We brought them back to the boat for breakfast.  They were really good.

     We walked through town again and looked at the boats next to the Harborwalk.  It is a wooden promenade along much of the waterfront.  There is a grassy park near the entrance.

  

   We ate lunch at the Thomas Café on Front Street.  It has been there for 75 years.  We learned about it in blogs written by boaters traveling the Great Loop.  The food was delicious.  Gary has promised me breakfast next time we’re here.

     I know I promised not to publish tons of pictures so I’m going to really try to curb the number of house pictures.  It’s going to be hard since there are so many beautiful houses in this town.  There are houses from the 1730’s, 1800’s and 1900’s.  There is a map you can get from the Chamber of Commerce that identifies them.  I’m making the house pictures smaller but you can click on each picture to make it larger.  That will help you see the details in the pictures we are taking with my new camera.

  There is even a very old oak in town that has its own historic marker.  Gary is my marker reader.  He gives me the abbreviated version of each one.

     

     We have really enjoyed our time here.   I would like to visit again on our way back home.  I will publish pictures about the marina tomorrow.  We are heading to Myrtle Beach to visit family.

     One last picture.  Allison and Sara ask the kids if they think Grandma can wear this flip flop.  Love to all.

Day 11...Santee River to Hazzard Marine, Georgetown, South Carolina

MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2012

     We woke up early in the exposed anchorage after a restless night.  The wind slapped waves up against the bow of the boat all night long.  Guess where our bed is.  Yep, right there in the bow.  Well,  last night Gary slept (tried to sleep) in the salon.   My bed of choice was the pilothouse seat.  Any place to get away from all that noise.

     As you can see, we were anchored right by a crab trap.  The crabber came to check his traps bright and early this morning.  They work very hard.  We killed some time watching them before we pulled anchor at 7:50.  We were in no hurry to get started since we were only going a short distance today. We are still tired from the long day yesterday.

   As we entered the Intraoastal from the river, there were 4 or 5 dolphins playing in the channel.  We couldn’t believe it when one of them came over and rode our tug’s bow wake.  Of course, it was too fast to take a picture.  Dolphins are much too quick for me.  This was the first dolphin that has ever traveled with us even for such a little time.  

                                                                                                                                                                                   

The Winyah Bay was rough today. Sara (our younger daughter) gave us a brightly colored metal sailboat windchime after we bought our 35.5’ sailboat.  We’ve hung it in each of our boats.   You can tell how hard we are pounding by how many times the windchime rings. The noise didn’t stop for the entire time it took us to cross the bay.  

     Gary estimated the waves were 3 feet breaking on the top.  The spray would go over the top of the boat as we crashed into the waves.  Gary got to use his windshield wipers.  Here are more pictures to try to show these waves. 

     The waves calmed down as we entered Sampit River in front of Georgetown, S.C.  We stopped at Hazzard Marine for two nights.  Gary needs to do some work on the boat and I must do a load of clothes.  We rested today after the hard day yesterday.  We are looking forward to a peaceful night tonight tied to the dock.  More about Georgetown tomorrow.

     We pounded 18 miles in a little less than 3 hours. 

Day 10...Tom Point Creek to Santee River

NO INTERNET OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE

SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2012

Full moon on the water

     I'm starting at the end of the day.  We traveled 77 miles in 11 hours and 55 minutes.  We were trying to get past Charleston and find a good anchorage but had to keep on going for what seemed like forever because the wind was blowing so bad that each anchorage we came to was really bumpy.  We finally just stopped for the night in an OK anchorage.  We have been spoiled by all of the good ones we previously anchored in.
     I'm so tired I'm going to show pictures with very little commentary.  I can't show you every nice house we see or every bird or  dock we come to so I'm going to publish some of everything.

There were long docks and short docks.

There are chairs, more chairs and even swings overlooking the Intracoastal.

There were seabirds in the air, pelicans fishing and an eagle perching.

There was a house with a back and white striped lighthouse, one with a red topped lighthouse, one with a cute porch and one that was huge.

Here are the Charleston pictures.

Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor

We also saw a sea turtle and a windmill.