We loved St. James but got going early because we had a long day ahead. We needed
to navigate some areas that are notorious for shoaling and three opening bridges were
on our schedule. With the recent storm we weren't sure what to expect on shoaling so
we wanted to hit all the really bad spots at high tide. We had good depths on our
course thankfully and not much traffic going through the "Rockpile", a narrow section
30 miles long that goes through the Myrtle Beach area.
We saw many gorgeous homes today especially up near St. James Plantation and then
again down around Myrtle Beach. At one point there was an overhead gondola taking
golfers across the canal to continue the course on the other side. You don't see that
every day.
We ended our day at Osprey Marina which had been recommended to us by people
we met in Oriental. To reach it you turn off the river into what appears to be a ditch
through the swamp and there it is. It's a very nice marina, not very big but the staff
was very friendly, the price was great and they gave us a golf cart for our personal
use to access the facilities while we were there. They also gave us a gift bag with
some nice items and a jar of locally made jelly. In the morning they provided a nice
contintal breakfast. We met several cruisers who had weathered the storm right there
very well. It's a great hurricane hole.
We were able to pick up some packages we had sent to Osprey that were waiting
for us.
Gondolas passing overhead with golfers
Our nice dock at Osprey Marina with swamp surrounding us
59 miles
Thursday, Nov.1
The Waccamaw River today was beautiful. It is very wild and scenic with almost no
houses along it, just picturesque swamp with bald cypress and black gum trees growing
in standing water. We saw lots of osprey nests, turtles, and a few eagles. Had all our
cold weather gear on today as it was cold with quite a bit of wind. I'm not sure what the
marina people think each day as we arrive all bundled up compared to how they are
dressed. It's always much colder moving down the river than it is on land blocked
from the wind.
We had a major disaster two days ago. Our coffee pot broke. But, today we were able
to ride our bikes to Walmart and found the exact model we needed to continue using our
thermal carafe, a special blessing.
Georgetown, SC, according to many historians was the first settlement in the New World
by Europeans. We arrived here today in time to ride our bikes around and see many of
the historic homes in the town. The city seems to be thriving compared to many of the
towns we've visited and we had dinner at a small establishment with great home cooked
meals "Aunnies".
The visit to Walmart was special since it had been a long time since visiting a real store.
Entertaing the locals with how much stuff we strap
to our bike carriers. Our bikes always bring comments.
32 miles
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