Sue did her sunrise walk along the beach, picking up a few shells and watching the sunrise. She was excited finding 3 welks, one really nice one.
We had to wait till 0900 to depart as there is construction on the bridge at Myrtle Beach and it doesn't open until 2pm. That means we can't get to Wacca Wachee marina tonight for drinks and appetizers. We'll have to anchor in the Waccamaw River.
Our anchorage spot in the Waccamaw. This is one of the prettiest sections of the ICW, that is in the Spring when the leaves are out. In the winter its pretty dreary and spooky looking. It's all swampy along the winding rivers in this area.
You can still see the flood line on the trees from the great flood from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 when the river rose 8ft above its banks.
Up the next day and proceeding down the river to Georgetown. We fueled up at Wacca Wachee. Turns out the restaurant is closed so we didn't miss anything by not being able to reach the marina last night.
Down the river closer to Georgetown it broadens out. Behind the cypress tree lined banks you can see the flat fields. These are all full of cattails today but couple hundred years ago they were rice fields, a key export crop from Georgetown to Europe.
Tied up to the town dock at Georgetown. They have 3 spots for transients but you can only stay during the day, no overnight stays. We stayed here two days and moved off the dock at the end of each day and moved up to the anchorage further up the creek. One day there was another sailboat at the other dock but today we are the only transients docked.
Georgetown is a very boater friendly town with a long waterfront walkway and too many bars/restaurants to count along the waterfront.
One block from the water is the main street full of restaurants, cafes, art and antique shops, and ice cream shops.
The ice cream special was a great deal. I got the 2 scoop special and splurged on a waffle cone. It was great ice cream. I guess these are winter prices we probably won't see we when come back through in May.
Across from the ice cream shop was the new brewery that opened a few months ago. Had to try a stout for Sue and IPA for Mark.
Note the short sleeves for the first time this trip. We finally hit warm weather in Georgetown with temps in the mid-70s, and 60 at night. No need for the electric blanket.
There are some 40s predicted for next week but we should hopefully be in Florida by Tuesday if all goes well.
On our first trip down the ICW in 2005, Sue was talking to a local in southern South Carolina about alligators and how they mostly lived in fresh waters, not salty waters by the ocean. Sue mentioned we had traveled down from Georgetown. "Oh, there's lots of alligators up in Georgetown in the Waccamaw swamps," he said. While walking along the boardwalk we saw these signs.
Georgetown folks on the boardwalk told us there are several alligators that patrol along the boardwalk because people feed them while eating at the restaurants (against the rules). Lots of french fries for the alligators they said. We didn't see any probably because the temperatures are still pretty cool.
Here's a good look at the boardwalk. Most of the boats you see anchored are permanent residents. We anchored back to the right around the corner by the old shut down steel mill. We were the only transient there this time of year. People report 12-15 boats anchored in this area during the migration periods in Spring/Fall.
Another sunset after a warm day in Georgetown. We will be off tomorrow morning and travel half way to Charleston, stopping at Awendaw anchorage, a pretty stop along the way.
They are forecasting several hours of rain tonight, then patchy fog in the morning but no more rain. Nice to have the rain at night.
