We left Charleston on Wed. and headed back out the inlet into the ocean.  Plans were to position ourselves to do a day trip, then anchor in Winyah Bay and continue north outside on Thursday, hoping that Cape Fear, NC would be the landing spot. However, the day turned into a motor - wind was 3-8 knots from the south and gave us no advantage.  Also, Thursday's weather started to deteriorate so we made the decision to turn inside again at Winyah Bay - some 55 miles from Charleston.  That's when the winds picked up and we had a fabulous sail in 12-15 knots of wind on the beam some 11.5 NM (about 2.5 hours) to the waterway, just outside Georgetown, SC.  The winds held so we continued to sail up the channel and into the Waccama River - my favorite spot on the ICW.  The scenery is spectacular --- cypress trees growing out of the tanin-stained water and the reflections of the trees in the water add to the dimension of things.  We continued our northward progression, and started looking for the anchorage that would get us to the farthest possible northern spot.  We found it -- Cow House Creek.  However, we almost missed it because it looked like just a bend in the shoreline.  Thankfully, our handy-dandy On the Water Chartbook described conditions and water depths for the creek.  It was narrow but deep so we motored into 10 feet of water, spun the boat into the wind, and dropped the hook.  We shared the creek with another boat, anchored about .5 mile up the creek a bit, and a bunch of birds singing their hearts out.  The hook was down at 7:45 pm, still before dark.  Dinner was simple fare and we were in bed early -- a long day.

Did you know that it is fully light by 6:30 am these days?  Up and moving around 6 am, the anchor was up by 6:30 and we motored out of the creek into the ICW again.  This is where my camera went crazy snapping this picture and that.  Reflections in the water of everything above the water line create interesting shadows and dimensions.  And with the sun shining, casting interesting shadows, it was fascinating.  We say many osprey in their nest-homes, preparing for new families this spring.  Always, the dad-sentry stands at attention and squawks at us if we get too close to the nest situated on top of the channel mark. I saw signs of wild flowers and dogwood trees displaying new blooms.  

Once out of the river, our next challenge was the Rock Pile where huge marl rocks line the ICW.  Thankfully we traversed that part of the ICW in plenty of water.  One does not want to learn first hand how tough those rocks really are.  By the time we crossed into North Carolina we faced low tide, opposing currents, and shallow waters so forward progress was slow.  We pulled into a favorite marina just south of Southport, NC at the entrance to the Cape Fear River, and called it a night.  Decisions to continue forward progress on Friday would be made in the morning when we could evaluate the threatened 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms.  For now, another quiet evening and early to bed was in order.