May 21-25, 2017
Miles Today: 22.4 NM
Total Miles: 617.8 NM
Early morning in our little cove was
spectacular. The moss draped cypress
trees were reflected in the mirror of water.
Birds sang in the cool air, dragonflies flitted by, the waterway beyond
was undisturbed.
Out on
the back deck, Jim tried to capture the beauty with his camera.
Pretty soon I heard him mutter, ‘Son of a
gun….is that?.....it is!’ A mid-size
alligator was gliding across our tiny inlet, checking us out! He swam past about 50 feet away, turned
around and swam back; stayed off the stern for a few minutes. When it was obvious we either a) weren’t a
threat or, more likely, b) weren’t going to feed him, he quietly slipped back
into the feeder creek off our starboard side.
By 9:30am we were back on the river heading north. Up ahead of us a large sailboat; behind a similar-sized trawler. The trawler got impatient and had to pass us in a wide spot on the river, but soon we were all together again waiting for the opening of the Socastee Swing Bridge. Each of us was asked to provide the name of the boat and our hailing port. The bridge tender was a friendly and courteous fellow. As we passed underneath and radioed our thanks, he cheerily answered, “Thanks for visiting South Carolina, Bazinga. Have a safe trip and please be sure to come back soon.”
Here's a great YouTube of an opening of the Socastee Swing Bridge from the water.
This was a day of carefully ‘staying in the middle of the channel.’ There’s a stretch around Myrtle Beach that is known as the Rock Pile – where the sides of the river have, you guessed it, lots of rocks.
As we approached North Myrtle Beach, the sailboat pulled off to tie up to the Barefoot Marina face dock. We had hoped to make it to an anchorage near the North Carolina border and decided to push on. We hadn’t gone very far when the clouds on the horizon turned very dark. We knew the weather forecast was for rain, but now it stated the rain would last not one but three days and the storm was becoming more severe. Safety first – Jim turned Bazinga around without hitting any rocks and we high-tailed it back to the Barefoot Marina. Just as the wind started to whip up, we slid along the face dock and two dockhands grabbed our lines.
Barefoot Marina is across the river from Barefoot Landing – a riverwalk kind of shopping area, with nautical architecture reminiscent of a New England village. We have one in San Diego called Seaport Village, which I would have to say is a bit more sophisticated and in better condition. However, Barefoot Landing has an excellent Italian restaurant – Umbertos – ‘A Pittsburgh Italian Experience’. We took an Uber across the bridge to enjoy an excellent dinner.
The rain and wind started that evening and stayed around for the next three days. There were moments of sunshine and then the rain came back in force. Since we couldn’t move the boat to pump-out, we had to make use of the marinas facilities. Again we found ourselves hiking ½ mile to use the restroom, take a shower, do laundry. We tried to time it between downpours. Just like campgrounds, you encounter quality at many different levels in marinas. The bathrooms here were large but old, not so clean and very slippery. The laundry room was tiny, 2 old washers and dryers, with no air-conditioning; though $1.50 per wash and dry is a bargain. But when it’s 95 degrees outside, the last place you want to be is in an airless closet with 2 dryers pumping out heat! I miss St. Johns Yacht Harbour facilities in Charleston!
The rain encouraged us to do boat chores, take a few naps, read and Skype with grandkids. One day, a neighbor who keeps his boat here full-time, dropped by to ask if we’d like to use his car in exchange for driving him to the dealership to pick up his wife’s car. Terry entertained us with stories of Rocket Bike Week, aka Black Bike Week, as named by the participants. It would start on Thursday of Memorial Day Weekend. We had experienced Harley Bike Week in Georgetown, which was fairly tame.
Terry informed us that Rocket Bike Week was very intense. Unfortunately, there would be lots of problems with dine-n-dash, vandalism at hotels, fights, bike racing on the main highway. Many stores and restaurants close up, Uber drivers stay home, people take their VRBO units off the market; police are out in force. We hoped to be on our way out of the area by Thursday. As it turned out, weather forced us to stay until Friday morning. All day Thursday and late into the night we listened to the roar of bike engines as they went up and down the main highway.
By 9:30am we were back on the river heading north. Up ahead of us a large sailboat; behind a similar-sized trawler. The trawler got impatient and had to pass us in a wide spot on the river, but soon we were all together again waiting for the opening of the Socastee Swing Bridge. Each of us was asked to provide the name of the boat and our hailing port. The bridge tender was a friendly and courteous fellow. As we passed underneath and radioed our thanks, he cheerily answered, “Thanks for visiting South Carolina, Bazinga. Have a safe trip and please be sure to come back soon.”
Here's a great YouTube of an opening of the Socastee Swing Bridge from the water.
This was a day of carefully ‘staying in the middle of the channel.’ There’s a stretch around Myrtle Beach that is known as the Rock Pile – where the sides of the river have, you guessed it, lots of rocks.
As we approached North Myrtle Beach, the sailboat pulled off to tie up to the Barefoot Marina face dock. We had hoped to make it to an anchorage near the North Carolina border and decided to push on. We hadn’t gone very far when the clouds on the horizon turned very dark. We knew the weather forecast was for rain, but now it stated the rain would last not one but three days and the storm was becoming more severe. Safety first – Jim turned Bazinga around without hitting any rocks and we high-tailed it back to the Barefoot Marina. Just as the wind started to whip up, we slid along the face dock and two dockhands grabbed our lines.
Barefoot Marina is across the river from Barefoot Landing – a riverwalk kind of shopping area, with nautical architecture reminiscent of a New England village. We have one in San Diego called Seaport Village, which I would have to say is a bit more sophisticated and in better condition. However, Barefoot Landing has an excellent Italian restaurant – Umbertos – ‘A Pittsburgh Italian Experience’. We took an Uber across the bridge to enjoy an excellent dinner.
 |
| Barefoot Marina in the foreground; Barefoot Landing across the river |
 |
| Pirate Ship across from us |
 |
| View of the Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge from our back deck. We'll be passing under that as soon as the rain lets up. |
The rain and wind started that evening and stayed around for the next three days. There were moments of sunshine and then the rain came back in force. Since we couldn’t move the boat to pump-out, we had to make use of the marinas facilities. Again we found ourselves hiking ½ mile to use the restroom, take a shower, do laundry. We tried to time it between downpours. Just like campgrounds, you encounter quality at many different levels in marinas. The bathrooms here were large but old, not so clean and very slippery. The laundry room was tiny, 2 old washers and dryers, with no air-conditioning; though $1.50 per wash and dry is a bargain. But when it’s 95 degrees outside, the last place you want to be is in an airless closet with 2 dryers pumping out heat! I miss St. Johns Yacht Harbour facilities in Charleston!
The rain encouraged us to do boat chores, take a few naps, read and Skype with grandkids. One day, a neighbor who keeps his boat here full-time, dropped by to ask if we’d like to use his car in exchange for driving him to the dealership to pick up his wife’s car. Terry entertained us with stories of Rocket Bike Week, aka Black Bike Week, as named by the participants. It would start on Thursday of Memorial Day Weekend. We had experienced Harley Bike Week in Georgetown, which was fairly tame.
Terry informed us that Rocket Bike Week was very intense. Unfortunately, there would be lots of problems with dine-n-dash, vandalism at hotels, fights, bike racing on the main highway. Many stores and restaurants close up, Uber drivers stay home, people take their VRBO units off the market; police are out in force. We hoped to be on our way out of the area by Thursday. As it turned out, weather forced us to stay until Friday morning. All day Thursday and late into the night we listened to the roar of bike engines as they went up and down the main highway.
