Georgetown to Osprey Marina, south of Myrtle Beach, SC

Traveling from Georgetown to Myrtle Beach on the Waccamaw River was irenic and not unlike the scenery we see on Lake PaHaGaco. The river is wide and deep and if it weren't for all the spanish moss, we kinda felt at home...that is until we began to get reports from the Coast Guard and online that there were wildfires destroying homes and threatening both sides of the waterway! All afternoon we kept checking on the progress of the fires and realized we wouldn't be able to get through. We stopped at the Osprey Marina at mile 373 (8 miles south of the troubled area) around 3 pm and "snuggled" in. There isn't a lot of room here! We took a post prandial stroll after dinner out the half mile driveway and realized we were really out in the woods. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
~~~_/)~~~D&M
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Traveling from Georgetown to Myrtle Beach on the Waccamaw River was irenic and not unlike the scenery we see on Lake PaHaGaco.

Here we are at the end of the Osprey Marina Drive.

Close quarters at the marina.

Inlet Creek to Georgetown, SC

We headed out of Inlet Creek at high tide and rode with the current for quite a while as we wound our way through the creeks and cuts,  but by the time we got to McClellanville to buy diesel, it was low (and lower than usual with the strong W wind) and we could only get to within 6 feet of the dock and had to do a lot of stretching to get the fuel nozzle and hand over the charge card!  We plowed our way out of the little inlet that housed the fuel dock and continued north.  Around 1 PM we were passed by a LARGE motor yacht called Neon Rainbow from Nashville, TN.  There was a gal sunning on the foredeck and Dan quipped
"Look there's a country singer star."   Little did we know that the boat actually belongs to Alan Jackson.  We discovered this when we tied up in front of it at the marina.  The dock mistress had already checked his concert schedule and discovered he was busy elsewhere!   The W wind, quite strong a times allowed us to motor sail most of the day.  It was particularly helpful during the times when we were fighting the current.  We docked at 4:30 and took a stroll through town to check it out.  Back to the boat for cocktails and then ashore for a harborside dinner.  We are glad we got a chance to see Georgetown this time. On the way down, it was in late and out early due to impending weather. ~~~_/)~~~D&M
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It wasn't even low tide yet!

Brunelle getting cozy with Neon Rainbow (Alan Jackson's yacht) at Hazzard Marina in Georgetown, SC

Georgetown is full of southern charm and beautiful old live oaks.

As we pulled into the marina we thought we noticed a familiar smell... The west wind brought the papermill aroma right through the town. We dined at a harbour walk pub right on the waterfront and caught this romantic shot.

Hilton Head to Charleston

An uneventful day, but we covered a lot of miles.  We headed out early from Hilton Head and went outside and up the coast.  The wind was relatively quiet until noon but then it picked up.  We spent a lot of the afternoon at more than 7 knots over the ground.  Arrived off Charleston a little after five, got into the harbor a half hour later, and made the Ben Sawyer draw bridge for its first post rush-hour opening at 6:00 and anchored about 20 minutes later.  We spent a lot of time reading and letting the autopilot do the work most of the day but when the wind kicked up we actually had to steer!  We plan to slow down a bit now and see some of the Intracoastal Waterway that we missed on the way down when we went outside (Myrtle Beach, for example). ~~~_/)~~~D&M
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"Oh say can you see..." Fort Sumter was a dramatic sight with Old Glory fluttering in the strong afternoon breeze as we entered the inlet at Charleston.

Timing is everything!! We left Hilton Head at 7:30 AM, went outside at Port Royal Sound headed for Charleston. Our favorite Charleston marina was full so we headed north up the ICW as soon as we entered the harbor and arrived at the Ben Sawyer exactly at 6 PM (it is closed from 4-6 for commuter traffic)!

We thought we'd seen it all, but this "cruiser" from Baltimore even carries his car with him! We anchored with him in Inlet Creek just south of Isle of Palms, SC.

Savannah to Skull Creek, Hilton Head, SC

     Steve, Anna and the boys, Aidan and Griff came aboard for a drink Sunday evening and then took us the the Crab Shack out on Tybee Island (we retraced the course we had taken on our way in up the Savannah River) for dinner.  Quite an experience, including quite a large alligator moat that surrounds the place!  Steve agreed to come back at noon today to take Amy to the Greyhound Station, so we adventured about Thunderbolt a little in the morning until the gnats drove us below! 
     After saying good-by to Amy we headed off north, hoping to beat the predicted "weather" that was heading our way.  We made good time and only bumped twice (we were at dead low tide) on our way through one of the "iffy" cuts through the marshes of South Carolina.  By 4 PM we were anxiously watching the black clouds building in the WSW and called ahead to Skull Creek Marina at the northern tip of Hilton Head Island to reserve a slip.  As we approached the marina so did the storm and we made a hasty landing in 25+ knots of wind but before the driving rain.  Walking the docks at sunset we found a completely different scene.  All was peaceful and calm. ~~~_/)~~~D&M
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A familiar sight here and at home is a great blue heron "fishing" from the dock.

The stern banner we made saves us from being swamped by passing power boats (most of the time) as they call us on the VHF and ask for a "slow pass."

A far cry from the scene as we arrived at Skull Creek Marina, on Hilton Head, SC. We didn't have time to get a picture of the black clouds and 25+ winds that accompanied us into our slip. (Note new bigger better name.)

Jax to Savannah

Amy doesn't feel she was well used because we only did one overnight, but we were glad to have her along.  It was an easy passage, we didn't go outside straight from Jacksonville because the wind was still NE and strong, but when we got to the FL/GA border the wind was E and quieter and out we went.  We were able to sail until about 3 AM when the wind turned S and died (it happened on Dan's watch, so we blame it on him!)  Sunrise found us just outside the Savannah River sea buoy, just like we planned.  It took a while to motor up the river against a 2 knot current and turn a south a bit down the ICW to Thunderbolt.  We had stopped at Thunderbolt on the way down so we could visit with Dan's cousin Steve Bliss and his family.  We are imposing on them again, this time to get Amy to the bus or train back to FL. ~~~_/)~~~D&M
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Not too many picture ops on the trip from Jacksonville, up the ditch to St. Mary's Inlet and offshore through the night to Savannah, so here's a collage of both our pix and Amy's.

St. Augustine to Jacksonville

     Can't decide if it is good or bad but we're heading north!  Our stay in St. Augustine was very productive. Not only is the bottom clean, shiny and blue, but the topsides got an acid wash and a professional wax job.  We also had the name replaced, so that is also shiny and new (and a bit larger.)  As soon as we were hauled we checked the cutlass bearing and found that it needed to be replaced.   Camanchee Cove Yacht Harbor did an admirable job and we were splashed on Thursday afternoon (a day late due to a very very rainy blustery Tuesday.)  We made good use of the time ashore to restock the boat and luckily had some Trader Joe's supplies that Amy brought down from Raleigh.
     After a send-off breakfast at Jay and Pegg's we loaded the boat and headed up the ICW because the wind was from the NE (on the nose) and blowing close to 20 knots.  We had an uneventful trip up the ditch- - -only one little bump (ACK! not our new paint job) when Dan got too close to shore.   We left the ICW for a few miles to return to a good anchorage we had found on our way back from our Thanksgiving trip up the St. John's River.   We dropped the hook at 4:30 and discussed options for tomorrow.  We'll see...~~~_/)~~~D&M
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Here's the latest addition to the crew list on Brunelle. Amy (no longer house sitting) is joining us for the first leg of our journey north.

Ahhh! Can you hear the sigh of relief from Martha when she can finally have flowers aboard. Amazingly we couldn't find or pick any in the Bahamas.

Another new addition, a topsy turvy tomato grower! We rigged it as we set off this morning, but Dan being Dan he had to engineer it better! Voila!

HAPPY EASTER!

Just a quick note because I wanted to share our manatee sighting with everyone!  We have been wined and dined ever since we arrived here in St. A.  Jay and Pegg included us in all their social activites this weekend, two parties and an Easter Parade!  We ended up missing the parade because we spotted the manatee just when we should have been leaving for the parade and spent quite a while watching this gentle giant.  We are ready to have Brunelle hauled in the morning for a new coat of bottom paint, and we're not in a great hurry to leave this beautiful weather until we hear that it's a bit warmer back home.  ~~~(\_~~~D&M

This guy had more furry growth than Brunelle's bottom(and a barnacle on his tail!) Of course, Brunelle has been moving faster than this manatee moved. He seemed to be enjoying his back rub, and nibbling on the growth around the dock.