Sat 5 May 2012
Alongside Fuel Dock at Wacca Weche Marina, SC

[photo: Just a few of the shrimp boats based out of Georgetown, SC.]

Last night's forecast severe thunderstorms did not appear, thankfully. Unlike so many previous cruises, I was able to active my smart phone's hotspot and use my laptop to watch the weather radar. When I checked at 2100, it was a very large nasty cell, indeed, still 30 miles to our W. By 2200, it was dissipating markedly, and I went to sleep expecting a little rain and very little wind, which was what we got.

After the morning boat chores, plus the first sweaty job I have done so far (replacing the zinc anode in the heat exchanger), we cleaned up and dropped the dinghy to go ashore with the bicycles around 0900. This is a great town for short biking excursions; there are several areas to dock larger and smaller boats and there is a quite an attractive waterfront. Rather than drop the dinghy, the smart thing to do would have been to simply weigh anchor and move Diva Di to the dock. That would have been quicker and easier than the dinghy, but we didn't think of it until it was a moot point.

We enjoyed s delightful slow ride all around the area surrounding the waterfront, stopped at a farmer's market in the park where Diane got some incredible cantaloupe and corn. On the way back, Diane stopped at a hair salon and was told to come back around 1030 for a quick cut. We rode until then and she waited in the salon while Duane went to the local seafood market where the independent fishermen and shrimpers sell their catch. We are having tuna steaks for dinner. By the time I got the fish back to the dinghy and the bike stowed, Diane was there, too, all set to go. We got the food in the refrigerator and hoisted the dinghy.

There are a few museums here in town, a Maritime Museum and Rice Museum, but we elected to pass on them at this time. We would recommend a stop here to anyone cruising this section of the ICW.

Had we planned a bit better, we would have spent a few more hours in town. I knew that leaving too early would subject us to a very foul current the whole 20 miles to our next intended anchorage, but we were a bit bored to be sitting there and there was a very wonderful wind blowing in a favorable direction, so we left earlier than planned at 1300.

Raising the anchor proved to be a challenge because the electric windlass suddenly failed to operate. [Lest someone get the impression that the boat has been neglected and everything is falling apart, I will tell you that this is a brand new windlass as of 2 years ago. I suspect it is a switch problem and will tackle that later.] There was a 2 knot current and 12 knot breeze right on the nose as Diane carefully motored forward and I attempted to raise the anchor chain by hand. There used to be leather gloves in the locker but they had rotted away, so there were none. The mud on the chain was slippery, and as I have stainless steel chain, there was no pitted/rusted galvanized surface to grip. It was very difficult, but I finally got the anchor up as Diane navigated safely out of the anchorage into the channel.

The passage would have taken less than 3 hours with no current, but as we had at least 1-2 knots against us, and the wind died after 2 hours, the run took us 4.5 hours to go 20 miles. That is very slow and frankly we would not cruise if this was our average speed. The scenery was mostly tall trees and the wide, deep water of the Waccamaw River.

Arriving at the intended anchorage, we were disappointed to see that it was extremely narrow and with lots of pleasure and sightseeing craft buzzing in and out. There was a marina immediately adjacent, so we tried calling, but they were closed for the day. I elected (with an inoperative windlass) to tie up at their fuel dock (a fixed dock with no cleats reachable at low tide) for the night as a prudent measure.

Diane and I are sipping a very cold beverage while we decompress from the drama of the day. Dinner was pan-seared tuna steak, bronzed in a teriyaki glaze, with fresh corn on the cob and green beans almondine. The chef sweated profusely in the heat, but dining al fresco on deck with the live music from the shoreside guitarist/singer was magical. Truth be told, we have had no problem finding and preparing great tuna and green beans since we moved to Florida 8 years ago, but the corn on the cob was the best we have had since our last visit to the NJ/PA area. It was still not as good as "Jersey corn", but quite tasty.

Clyde was especially entertained tonight by the dozen or so swallows that live under the dock where we are tied. It was a very pleasant evening until about 2100 when the bugs appeared and we headed below. There are thunderstorms to our W, which I will be tracking on the Internet radar.