Each sunrise signifies a new beginning of a new day and today's(Easter Sunday) was just as spectacular as any we've seen. The serenity of our anchorage unfortunately was marred by the onslaught of a multitude of mosquitoes and mayflies as we weighed anchor at 7 am! I put on my Easter bonnet as a spoof, but was actually glad for the protection it provided - keeping the annoying bugs off my head!
We had set a goal of making 60+ miles today, so we needed an early start. We gauge our travel time on the ability to make 6 nm per hour, but the first half of the day was against a certain amount of current so we didn't come close to our goal. We finally reached the incoming current at Winyah Bay, just south of Georgetown around 11:30 and began to make up for lost time - averaging almost 7 knots.
The first half of the day was through the marshes and creeks that we had been traversing yesterday, but after we left Georgetown the ICW follows several rivers that are wider, deeper and much more lush. We spotted several bald eagles in the trees along the shores and many more ospreys nesting in both dead and live trees. I decided to make a study of all the interesting trees that line the shores. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked to because we ran into engine trouble shortly after 2 pm. Luckily we were motorsailing at the time, so we continued to sail while Dan tried to figure out why the engine chose to just shut down. He determined that it wasn't getting fuel, but the solution didn't become immediately apparent. He spent about an hour troubleshooting the situation while I jibed back and forth (jib only) as we continued on through several "S" curves of the Waccamaw River. We were still with the current and refused tows offered by both Pekabu and Andiamo for the first hour and a half, but began to realize we might not make it to our destination before the current changed if we continued on at our "leisurely" pace. Pekabu headed on to the marina so Pete could put his dinghy down and be available to help us in the long narrow entrance to Osprey Marina and Andiamo gave us a tow the last 5 miles or so. We arrived at 4:45 and were given the berth on the gas dock (easiest approach) and by 6:00 Dan had changed out the electric fuel pump and all was right with the world, and especially with Brunelle! Kathy quickly organized an Easter dinner that was held aboard Andiamo and we toasted to another successful day!
~~~(\_~~~M&D
My tree study isn't what I'd hoped for, but you get the idea that we are out of the marshes !
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