April 16 and 17, 2019 Charleston to Minum Creek to Myrtle Beach

Today is April 16, 2019.  It is a special day as  today two events are occurring simultaneously.  It is our 36^th wedding anniversary and it is also the first day of officially starting the Great Loop!  After 36 years I still can’t believe how lucky I have been to find someone like Martha to share all my dreams, ambitions, and goals. We have talked about looping for 10 years and are finally making it a reality!

Our home for the winter has been St. Johns Yacht Harbor in Charleston, SC.  It has served us well being only a 4 hour drive to our “dirt house”.  That made it easier to travel back and forth as we finished up projects and got the boat fully ready for our trip. It really helped having our  friends Gene and Paula  who recently relocated to John’s Island being willing to put us up in their house when we had the boat out of the water for the bottom job. We can’t thank them enough for their southern hospitality.

One last look back at St. Johns Harbor Marina and the start to our Loop

Our travels today took us from the Stono river on the west side of Charleston, through Elliot’s Cut (thankfully at slack full tide so no outrageous current ripping through there) then  past the battery and across Charleston harbor. 

Going past Charleston's waterfront homes

The new Ravenel Bridge

 Then we tucked in behind Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms fighting an outgoing tide.  We were traveled slowly trying to got to McClellenville on a rising tide due to it’s notorious shoaling. Unfortunately for us, prior to McClellenville we ran across a dredge doing work at Dewe’s Island channel marker103.  We tried raising him with calls on Channel 16 to no avail so we started to slowly pass him .  I made the mistake of trying to give him a wide berth when  his instructions to anyone raising him on Channel 13 was to pass  as close as possible to his dredge.  We went aground in soft mud but on a dropping tide.  With 2 hours to low tide we had no options but to sit it out. Four and a half  hours later on the rising tide and after a pretty significant list of the boat we were back on our way none the worse for it  due to our full keel  and protected prop.  Just another story to tell of our first day looping.    

Boat listing heavily to port  right before tide turned and righted us

Typical SC low country ICW scenery

Seagulls following in our wake just past McClellenville

 Captain Martha at the helm

We made it through McClellenville completely drama free as we wound up passing through it’s low spots at full tide.  Then a push further north to a nice anchorage on Minum Creek just as the sun was setting and the wind was diminishing.  Dropped our new Rocna 25kg anchor and it dug in on the first tug.   After a 12-hour day of boating we were finally ready for our anniversary dinner, a hot shower and off to bed for an early start on Wed and hopefully an uneventful trip to Myrtle Beach and meeting up with brother Paul.  

Minum Creek , SC anchorage - our home for night #1

Anniversary Dinner

Our first days journey

April 17, 2019  

Following  a beautiful sunrise and a hearty breakfast we left Minum Creek at 8AM on a high tide after a great nights sleep.  The wind completely diminished overnight , there was a full moon to light the night sky and only a gentle change of tides to swing the boat at anchor. We shared the anchorage with just one other boat.  So peaceful and quite we slept like babies.

Sunrise on Minum Creek

This section of SC changes dramatically on the ICW.  Leaving Minum Creek you're going through low country marshland.  After passing Georgetown you see the old abandoned rice fields that herald back to the days when it was a center for rice and indigo plantations made possible by the ready availability of cheap labor due to the slave trade. Next you enter the scenic beauty that is the Waccamaw River.  A free flowing tannin stained swamp full of nesting osprey on every daymark and turtles sunning themselves on floating tree trunks. As you approach the developments of Myrtle Beach the area suddenly starts to become developed with more  boat and jetski traffic and  more no wake zones. The area known as the "Rock Pile" is always exhilarating.  When digging the ICW in this area they hit solid rock so blasted a narrow channel in the rock but left steep and jagged rocks  right at the water line.  A few feet off course and you can easily ruin your boat. This section also has two old fashioned swing bridges that require opening.  Only a few of these remain as they are being obsoleted by fixed  bridges with 65' clearances. Both the Socastee and Little River  Swing Bridge tenders were very accommodating with openings on demand. 

Putting out crab pots in the lowcountry

Abandoned Rice Fields

Rural Waccamaw River

Nesting Osprey

 We made it to Myrtle Beach Yacht Club for the night a bit earlier than expected due to a very favorable tidal push the final few hours that had us motoring along at a "brisk" 8.5 knots!  Brother Paul  who was down at Garden City  for a family vacation dropped by to see the boat and stayed for a nice spaghetti dinner on board. We look forward to having more family members join us at any time to share in our adventure. 

Day 2