South Carolina St. James, SC

April 3rd, 2021
Sometimes you just get lucky! We had no idea what to expect from St James Marina. The price per ft was extremely affordable but given our circumstance we had little choice. We found St James Marina to be a well-maintained facility with floating docks and situated so it was sheltered from the wind and current from the ICW making docking hassle free.
We took an exceptionally long hot shower, changed into clean clothes, turned on the heat and settled in for a quiet evening. The only downside was there was no restaurant, but we had food board. They had ice and diesel available, but the pump out was out of order.
We went for a walk around the boardwalk around the Marina. Beautiful condos surrounding the marina. I think I was looking at a condo instead of where I was walking and managed to get on a ice slick. Weird weather where you turn on your sprinklers then have a freeze.
Headed for Bird Island in the Little River Inlet. We stayed there once before. Beautiful anchorage with a beach. It is just off the cut going out into the Atlantic and we plan to do an open water crossing tomorrow.
By the time we arrived at the anchorage the tides and winds were against each other making a terrible chop and difficulty setting the anchor. Back up plan was to go into Calabash Creek on the opposite side of the ICW. About 4 hours after we set the anchor, Charles realized our stern was near, if not, grounded. We pulled the anchor and 4 attempts, 45 minutes, and a lot of frustration later we finally got a sustainable set on the anchor. The low tides are still eluding us.